SCIT.ATR.PI.2008.AU

Annual Technical Report 2008 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Australia (SCIT/ATR/PI/2008/AU)

Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.

The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.

I. Evolution of patent activities

Changes experienced in terms of application filings and grants with respect to the previous year

2007:
Patent applications filed = 26744
Patents granted = 11657 (Revised figure 11070)
PCT designations = N/A*

2008:
Patent applications filed = 26536
Patents granted = 11835
PCT designations = N/A*

*(note all states were automatically designated for PCT filings from 1 January 2004)

Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year

0.8% less filings received in 2008 than in 2007.

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide statistics related to patents

http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about/statistics.shtml

II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information

Publishing, printing, copying (main types of publications of the Office in the field of patent information, etc.)

The number of patent documents published in 2008 in the Australian Official Journal of Patents (AOJP) was:

* patent applications open to public inspection (AU-A) = 17717
* patent applications advertised accepted (AU-B) = 13643

Note: the AU-A figure includes standard patent, and innovation patents made open to public inspection (OPI) either pre-grant or at grant. The AU-B figure includes standard patent and innovation patent certifications.

Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of patent information

Official notices and changes to office procedures are done through the Australian Official Journal of Patents.

These Official notices, and many other patent related notices, are also put directly on the IP Australia Internet site under the Patent notices section.

Mass storage media used (paper, microforms, optical storage, etc.)

Australian patent specifications are published on CD-ROM and on the IP Australia's web site. Patent specifications of Australian designated PCT applications are no longer republished by IP Australia at the OPI stage following their original publication by WIPO.

The Office continues to receive foreign patent specifications on CD-ROM and DVD. The following databases and information are available through the IP Australia internet site:

AusPat
This database contains bibliographic and status information about innovation patent applications filed in Australia from January 1979. In some cases, details of patents filed before January 1979 are also available. AusPat also contains International Patent Classification information for the majority applications from 1920; IPC version 8 has been applied to applications filed from 1970.

AU Published Patent Data Searching
Abstracts of all published Australian patent applications filed since 1st January 1975 appear on APPS, except for patent applications and patents published by the New Patent Solution (NPS) system between 11 July 2002 and 31 July 2003 inclusive. Of these, the earlier applications will generally have an abstract prepared by Derwent Information Ltd.

Pre-1975 Australian applications going back to 1920 have some bibliographic data on APPS. Usually this is only the application number and IPC classification marks, and hence, this data is generally searchable only on these fields.

Data fields listed in the table below can be searched using the Advanced Search option. The data fields can be used either individually or in a logical combination, to retrieve the abstracts of relevant AU published patent data.

Published patent data on APPS is updated weekly, one week after publication of the AOJP. Note that there is no weekly publication during the Easter and Christmas period.

Patent specifications - AU-A, AU-B and AU-C information.
This site hosts Australian OPI, accepted and amended patent specifications in PDF format. This database contains:
• AU non-convention non-PCT available from 1975
• AU-A available from 17 December 1998 to present
• AU-B available from 17 December 1998 to present.

Word processing and office automation

Current standard desktop software includes Microsoft Windows XP SP2 with Microsoft Office 2003.

(New) techniques used for the generation of patent information (printing, recording, photocomposing, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), etc.)

The Office's publication system provides the following functions:
• production of the Australian Official Journal of Patents as a PDF file. The journal is published on IP Australia’s website;
• production of patent certificates and original register entries; and
• production of notices for patent applicants or their agents.

The other part of the Office's publication system is mainframe based and produces:
• camera ready copy of the Australian Official Journal of Patents;
• patent certificates and original register entries; and
• notices for patent applicants or their agents.

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide access to online publication of patent documents and gazettes, and to other primary and secondary sources of patent information, including patent publication servers and download of bulk patent data

The supplement to the Australian Official Journal of Patents may be found at:

http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/epublish/content/olsEpublications.jsp#

III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents

Abstracting, reviewing, translating

Examiners redraft applicant-prepared abstracts of non-PCT national applications when they are found to be deficient to the extent that they are unable to fulfil their function. The abstracts of PCT national phase applications are not reviewed as these have been thoroughly evaluated in the international phase.

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), and reclassification³ activities; Classification system used, e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC), other classification (please indicate whether or not patent documents are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification is used)

Patent applications are classified into the latest edition of the International Patent Classification. As of 1 January 2006, IP Australia implemented the use of IPC 8 (reformed).

IP Australia no longer reclassifies Australian designated PCT applications at the open for public inspection stage.

Coordinate indexing (domestic deep indexing systems, keyword indexing)

Once IPCCAT software is available, IP Australia will consider using it to index PCT and national patent applications.

Hybrid system indexing

n/a

Bibliographic data and full-text processing

n/a

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

File building

Full specifications of all non-PCT designated AU-A and AU-B patent specifications are available on Mimosa CD-ROMs and on the Internet.

Updating

Updates to the Mimosa CD-ROMs and Internet information about all non-PCT designated AU-A and AU-B patent specifications occur on a weekly basis.

Storage, including mass storage media

See Section 2 “Mass storage media and microforms used” for this information.

Documentation from other offices maintained and/or considered part of the available search file

n/a

V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems

In-house systems (online/offline)

IP Australia has on-line filing facilities for patent applications which allow all new standard patent applications, as well as innovation patent applications, to be filed electronically. These on-line filings interface directly to IP Australia's electronic case file management system, PAMS, which allows these applications to be processed electronically. The AusPat search system provides access to the bibliographic data held in PAMS.

IP Australia has developed a system to support business-to-business (B2B) data exchange of National Phase Entry Patent applications with its high volume clients (Patent Attorneys). This system will be expanded in the future to accept other service request types and is consistent with WIPO electronic filing and National e-commerce standards.

External databases

IP Australia uses commercial databases on patents and technical literature through, for example, EPODOC, WPI, Questel-Orbit, STN and DIALOG, as well as general databases available over the Internet.

Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics and administrative support)

See Section 5 “In-house systems” and Section 2 “Mass storage media and microforms used” for this information.

Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used

IP Australia's head Office has an ethernet-based LAN providing high speed bandwidth for each user desktop connection. A DMZ-based, DSD approved firewall using IAN ports (Internet IEFT Assigned Numbers) provides the secure means to allow access from internal systems/users to external entities such as the Internet or public/private organisations.

The current SOE includes Windows XP with Office SE 2003, IE 6.0 SP1, and Lotus Notes.

Existing online thesauri; their structure, presentation and usefulness for computerized searches

n/a

VI. Administration of the industrial property office library, and information products and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, for assisting clients on searching procedures, for obtaining official publications and registry extracts)

Planning, administration, automation, security, buildings

IP Australia’s Customer Service Delivery (CSD) section provides a central contact for customers to obtain information to support their decisions about a wide range of Intellectual Property issues. Customers contact the CSD via telephone, fax and email with around 95% of matters of a general nature solved at the first point of contact. The CSD provides face-to-face, phone, email and web-based assistance through State-based and Canberra Offices as well as general financial receipting and front end processing of attorney and private applicants' lodgements.

The State Offices:
• provide information about patents, trade marks and designs processes;
• maintain search facilities so customers can research Australian patents, trade marks and designs;
• receipt application forms and fees, providing a filing facility for IP documents in each state capital except Darwin;
• raise IP awareness and promote IP Australia’s corporate image in their respective communities by providing general IP presentations and information sessions They also liaise with other government agencies sharing the same customer base to promote our services and publications; and
• act as a referral point for enquiries on other IP areas eg copyright.

IP Australia will begin transitioning away from the use of state offices during the second half of 2009. Increasingly, IP Australia is using its web site as a means of providing an alternative means of public access to these services. Patents can be searched by external clients via AusPat.

IP Australia is currently finalising the design of a system to support business-to-business data exchange of patents, industrial designs and trade marks transactions with its high volume clients (Patents and Trade Mark Attorneys). This system will be consistent with WIPO electronic filing and National e-commerce standards.

Collecting, acquisitions, preparation

n/a

Collection management, preservation

All Australian Patents records/documents are handled in accordance with Office procedures set down under Australian Law and archiving practices.

Interlibrary lending, resource sharing, networks of patent libraries in the country

n/a

Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and patent information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)

Information services are available on the IP Australia website.
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/


Holdings for each State Office are listed at http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/resources/contacts.shtml

URLs of web pages of the Office's website for electronic filing of patent applications

https://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/ecentre/content/olsHome.jsp

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide information on business procedures such as: filing, publication, examination and grant procedures related to patents; opposition and appeal procedures related to patents; etc.

General information
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/index.shtml

Publications and forms
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/resources/forms_patents.shtml

Patent Examiners' Manual
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/pdfs/patentsmanual/WebHelp/Patent_Examiners_Manual.htm

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide a description of information products and services offered by the Office (e.g., patent search service(s) and patent databases), as well as information on how to access and utilize them

http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/resources/index.shtml

VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information

International or regional cooperation in the exchange of machine-readable information, e.g., bibliographic data, abstract and/or full text information

Full specifications of all non-PCT designated AU-A and AU-B patent specifications are available on Mimosa CD-ROMs and on the Internet, and are updated on a weekly basis. IP Australia distributes the CD-ROMs to a number of other IP Offices.

Medium used for exchange of priority documents

Certified copies of Australian patent applications for use as priority documents in foreign applications are provided in paper form. Priority documents on which Australian applications are based are required in paper form.

Medium allowed for filing applications

Although filing is mainly in paper form, IP Australia has on-line filing facilities for patent applications which allows all new standard patent applications as well as innovation patent applications to be filed electronically.

VIII. Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information, including technical assistance to developing countries (please indicate URLs of web pages of the Office’s website wherever appropriate)

Training courses for national and foreign participants, use of audiovisual means

IP Australia conducted a seminar in Beijing to inform business, IP professionals and government about the Australian IP system and how it works. Three hundred people attended the seminar.

IP Australia conducted a five day Plant Breeder’s Rights breeder testing course in Vietnam. Twenty people attended the course which was conducted at two sites.

IP Australia and the European Patent Office jointly hosted an EPOQUE.Net seminar for delegates of seven IP Offices from throughout the Asia Pacific region

Assistance to developing countries (sending consultants and experts, receiving trainees from developing countries, etc.)

IP Australia hosted a three month leadership training program, the Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) Fellowship Program for six developing nation IP officials. Its objectives were to enhance the management and leadership capability in IP offices in the region through the provision of training and mentoring for mid to senior level overseas IP officials.

IP Australia hosted a three month placement by the IPO Papua New Guinea Legal officer.

IP Australia provided library resources for Vietnam’s National Office of IP.

IP Australia conducted an advanced IP public education and awareness course in Thailand for Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) staff and staff from other Thai Government Agencies.

Promotional activities (seminars, exhibitions, visits, advertising, etc.)

Key promotional activities in 2008:

• IP Australia ran an Australia-wide seminar series focussing on Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), IP and exporting. The seminar series focussed on educating SMEs in intellectual property issues associated with exporting with particular emphasis on a number of exporting destinations. These countries were chosen based on current export value, and differences in their IP systems compared to the system in Australia were explained. http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/ippassport/index.shtml

• IP Australia issued a media release for World IP Day and organised a number of initiatives for World IP Day, including: promotional activities on major national television and radio networks; an on-line forum; and events at all State Offices.

• IP Australia produced two IP “How to” kits targeting the Australian Graphic Design and Industrial Design sectors. The kits were produced in partnership with the Victorian State Government and are titled Protect your Creative and Make your Mark. Through industry consultations and research, the information in each publication was tailored specifically to each audience, ensuring the product was well received. http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/resources/forms_general.shtml

• IP Australia developed an advocacy program to assist Australian traders more confidently protect their IP in Japan which included a series of fact sheets and website content dedicated to providing tailored information on trade issues. http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/resources/japan_casestudy_turningjapanese.shtml

Studies to identify trends in new technology, e.g., by the use of patent statistics and preparation of monographs

Studies of this kind are typically carried out by the IP Institute of Australia (IPRIA). At times, IP Australia specifically commissions IPRIA to conduct this research.

For further information visit the IPRIA website:
http://www.ipria.org/

Assistance furnished by offices to facilitate the changing over of receiving offices to electronic data carriers for the exchange of patent documents (see also fourth sub-item of item VI, above)

n/a

IX. Other general information related to the Office that is available on the Internet -- URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that:

provide information on legislation related to patents

Patents Act:
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Management.nsf/current/bytitle/F06A357BDE40D9B2CA256F710006FBDB?OpenDocument&mostrecent=1


Patents Regulations
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Management.nsf/current/bytitle/B24C58674B11775CCA256F710006B589?OpenDocument&mostrecent=1

contain the Annual Report of the Office

Annual Report
http://www.innovation.gov.au/Section/AboutDIISR/Documents/AR0708_chapter8.pdf

if necessary, provide further information related to the topics referred to in the current ATR

n/a

provide open source codes related to patent information systems

n/a

contain patent-related news regarding the Office

Latest news is featured on the home page of IP Australia's website:
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/


Subscription-based mailing lists:
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/resources/lists_index.shtml#

X. Other relevant matters

n/a