Annual Technical Report 2013 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Australia (CWS/ATR/PI/2013/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. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PATENT INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
...
2012:
Patent applications filed = 26,358
Patents granted = 17,724
PCT designations = N/A*
2013:
Patent applications filed = 29,717
Patents granted = 17,112
PCT designations = N/A*
*(note all states were automatically designated for PCT filings from 1 January 2004)
Overall, applications for patents and trade marks in Australia dipped during the global financial crisis (GFC). Patent filings have since recovered and trade mark and design filings now exceed pre-GFC levels. From 2011 to 2013, we have seen growth in patent and trade mark filings from Australian applicants as well as applicants from the United States of America (US) and Asia. The main driver of the growth in Australian Patent applications in 2013 was due to the IP Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act 2012 which came into effect on 15 April 2013. The reforms introduced by the Act are intended to raise the requirement for receiving a patent, but requests for examination filed before 15 April 2013 will be examined under the old system, meaning they have a lower threshold. This led to a rush of applications and examination requests as applicants aimed to file prior to the reforms taking hold. Please refer to the recently released “Australian Intellectual Property Report 2014” for more detailed discussion and analysis. This report is available on the following link:
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/reports/2014_ip_report/
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
...
Information services are available on the IP Australia website.
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
...
IP Australia’s Customer Service Call Centre provides a central contact for customers to obtain information about a wide range of Intellectual Property issues. Customers contact the Call Centre via telephone, and online enquiry form with around 95% of matters of a general nature solved at the first point of contact. .
Increasingly, IP Australia is using its website 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 implementing 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.
All Australian Patents records/documents are handled in accordance with Office procedures set down under Australian Law and archiving practices.
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF PATENT INFORMATION
...
VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS
...
| 1. | Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.
|
| 2. | Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner). Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.
|
| 3. | Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC). The new symbols are available on patent databases.
|