Reflections on Henty Field Days 2025
Len Mancini
There’s something special about field days. As someone who grew up on a family farm, I’ve always believed that the heart of regional Australia lies in its people — clever, hardworking, and endlessly resourceful. Agtech is simply the result of putting technology into the hands of these practical problem-solving people. The results speak for themselves with Henty 2025 aplenty with new products and services to manage precious resources like water and soil more efficiently, reduce labour costs and lift productivity.
Innovation is clearly alive and well across rural Australia.
What’s less visible is that much of this innovation isn’t being captured as intellectual property (IP). Often, that’s not because people don’t care, it is because there’s still general confusion about what IP actually is and why you should aim to protect it as you generate it.
What I Heard at Henty
This year at Henty, I spoke with many machinery and product makers — from people building custom sprayers and pruners to inventors refining attachments and monitoring tools. Having worked on a fair few ag machinery patents myself, I always ask a few simple questions:
Do you have a registered trade mark or brand protection in place?
Have you registered the design or shape of your product?
Have you considered a patent for the idea or function of the product?
Awareness of IP is definitely improving. More agtech founders now factor IP into their market-entry planning — which is great to see. But I still come across three common misconceptions about intellectual property from rural and regional areas.
Three Common Misconceptions About IP
1. “I’ve registered my trade mark” — when it’s really just a business name. Many people believe they’ve registered a trade mark when they’ve only registered a business name. A business nameis simply a record of who owns the business — it doesn’t give you any legal rights. A registered trade mark, on the other hand, gives you exclusive rights to use your brand name or logo and stops others from copying it. It’s both your shield and your sword when it comes to brand protection. And its not just names, you can register logos, colours, shapes even sounds that products make as your trade mark.
2. “Patenting is too expensive” Patents can indeed be costly, particularly their enforcement, but many agtech products are also eligible for design registration, which is quite often overlooked. A registered design protects the shape and appearance of a product — which includes its function if that function is provided by the shape of the product— and can be obtained quickly and affordably (typically around $1,000 per design, lasting 10 years). If the way your product works depends on its shape — think concrete moulded products, welded products, injection moulded products all can have their shape protected. This sort of protection is perfect for implements, discs, posts, adaptors, or other form-dependent tools — design registration is a smart and accessible option.
3. “Even if I had a patent, I couldn’t afford to enforce it.” This is one of the biggest myths. Yes, enforcement can be expensive — but the value of IP isn’t only in enforcement. Increasingly, the main benefit comes when it’s time to sell or expand your business. Buyers and investors actively look for businesses that have registered their IP because it means the ideas and know-how are tied to the company, not just the founders. Even without litigation, having your IP formally registered can act as a powerful deterrent — competitors often think twice before copying something that’s clearly protected.
Why It Matters
Regional innovation is one of Australia’s greatest assets. If we can capture and protect the ideas born in sheds, workshops, and farmyards across the country, we’ll keep more value — and more pride — right here in regional communities.
So next time you’re developing a new product — or even just sketching an idea on the workbench — talk to your patent and trade mark attorney early. A short conversation can make all the difference in securing the future value of what you’ve created.
Let’s Talk
If you’ve got an Agtech product, prototype, or even a rough concept and want advice on trade marks, designs, or patents, let’s connect:
Don’t leave your best ideas unprotected. Connect today.
Going to the Australian National Field Days in Orange 23-25 October and want to catch up during the show? Get in touch now to schedule a meeting with myself or one of our attorneys.