Welcome to the first edition of K&L Gates Australia, Patent and Plant Breeder’s Rights Year in Review in which we examine the significant judgments, developments and events effecting patents and plant breeder’s rights in Australia.

2016 proved to be the year of the unexpected. Once and for all, we learned to treat polls with a grain of salt as we saw Britain voting to leave the European Union and Donald Trump winning the U.S. Presidency. We also saw the boundaries of literature redefined when Bob Dylan, the once radical musician, was awarded the Nobel Prize. And amongst significant change, there seemed to be change for change’s sake. Most notably, Apple dropped the headphone jack on its iPhone.