Please provide links to your website where the requested information can be found in English, French, or Spanish. Alternately, you may provide text responses instead of URLs if desired. If the information is not available on your website in an ATR language, then please provide text.
URLs in responses should meet the following requirements:
Information on the following topics is desired:
IP Australia’s vision is to deliver a world-leading IP system that builds prosperity for Australia. By administering intellectual property rights, we provide a key set of levers for harnessing Australia’s innovative potential and lifting its productivity, industrial capacity and economic resilience.
Patent applications for 2024 decreased by 3.3% on their level in 2023. This result reflects reduced patenting in Australia from other major countries of origin driving fewer filings in pharmaceuticals and medical technology. This has been partially offset by increased applications in biotechnology, from across locations of origin, and growth in filings notably for electric power technologies and machines and transport technologies. In 2024, grants of standard patents in Australia increased markedly, to 1.24 times their level in 2023, at 19,276 in total. Two main factors have contributed to this increase in grants:
IP Australia’s patent policy objectives in 2024 included enhancing education and access to the IP system for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and helping SMEs and exporters to make the most of their ideas in domestic and foreign markets; to ensure that our laws are suitable for their needs; and to use our capacity to shape international IP developments, through WIPO and with other IP offices abroad, both pro-actively and in response to a changing global context.
More information can be found in our Strategic Corporate Plan Corporate Plan 2024-25 | IP Australia.
People + Technology + Efficiency Program (P+T+E): This program was established to explore opportunities for further innovation in a rapidly changing technology ecosystem. This program aims to keep IP Australia efficient, relevant, and flexible in how services are delivered customers and stakeholders. The P+T+E Program comprises four projects; one of these projects involved a discovery and ideation process, to identify new AI use cases for patent and trade mark application processing and examination. The program also involved oversight of implementing our whole-of-government requirements for responsible AI use.
Patents Modernisation Initiative (PMI): In 2024 the PMI project was finalised. The multiple-year PMI journey modernised a number of internal patent system workflows to make it easier for examination and administration staff to perform their work.
Customer Value Program (CVP): The CVP program closed June 2024. The CVP aimed to transform IP Australia’s internal processes and capabilities and align them to a customer-centric and delivery-focused model. The program has delivered efficiencies for end-to-end IP rights administration and improved engagement and satisfaction for IP Australia’s customers by delivering a more modern, practical and informative corporate website, a modern and effective correspondence, streamlined and efficient processes and services for customers, and digital experience personalisation and maturity. Specifically, some of the deliverables included:
IP Australia’s IP Analytics published interactive and infographic patent analytics reports on artificial intelligence (AI) computing, hardware and applications published between 2000-23; and interactive patent analytics reports on quantum computing, sensors, communication and applications published between 2015-23.
Patent Administration Uplift (PAU): This project started in December 2024 and is set to run until the end of November 2027. Its purpose is to transition all patent administration tasks from our legacy Patent Administration and Management System (PAMS) to a new system called the Patents Administration Workbench. The Workbench will speed up processing times by reducing manual work and automating high-volume, low risk, and repetitive processes where possible. It will also improve our cybersecurity posture and enable quick and easy system improvements.
The team is using an agile delivery methodology to continuously release improvements at regular intervals instead of one ‘big bang’ release. Working in close consultation with the IP Rights Administration Teams, new features continue to be released every 7 weeks to production.
Item | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
National Applications — Direct filing | 9,259 | 8,587 | 8,578 | 9,026 | 8,164 | 8,846 |
PCT Applications — National phase entry | 21,219 | 22,943 | 23,714 | 23,383 | 21,138 | 20,942 |
Granted standard patents | 19,276 | 15,573 | 16,407 | 17,154 | 17,776 | 17,007 |
Latest news: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/news-and-community/news
Australian IP Report, statistics and analytics: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/tools-and-research/professional-resources/data-research-and-reports
Information on the following topics is desired:
IP Australia provides information on its website to support applicants filing patents:
IP Australia also provides further support through the contact centre or online enquiry channels. Applicants are also invited to utilise WIPO information resources, including the PCT Applicant’s Guide. See in particular:
The patent application dossier is available via the Australian Patent Search (https://ipsearch.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/).
IP Australia has been classifying direct filings, Paris Convention route AU applications and PCT applications using the International Patent Classification (IPC) scheme for publication. Since January 2019 IP Australia has also been classifying Australian and New Zealand originating AU and PCT applications for which IP Australia is the ISA using the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) scheme. CPC and IPC classification is fully integrated with the patent case management system, RIO for Patents Workbench.
The RIO Classification system utilises an internally built machine learning-based system, Patent Auto Classifier (PAC), to broadly pre-classify classification tasks for distribution to examination sections. Classification tasks with multiple technology areas are distributed to multiple technology sections in parallel, and classifiers can refer tasks to other technology areas for further classification as required. The latest version of CPC and IPC schemas are used for classification in the system, and CPC symbols are automatically concorded to IPC symbols. PAC is retrained annually following the IPC scheme update that occurs on 1 January each year.
The system performs automated administrative CPC reclassification when there is an updated CPC version. For symbols that cannot be reclassified automatically, it flags them for intellectual reclassification. Classifiers use a 'Maintain Classification' function to carry out intellectual reclassification as directed. This function may also be used to otherwise update or correct the classification of an application.
In addition, RIO Classification was built with the capacity to automatically transfer CPC classification data to the European Patent Office (EPO) patent database when the applications are officially published.
The following table shows the number of IPC and CPC classifications applied by IP Australia in 2024:
Item | Number of applications |
IPC (CPC + IPC-only) classifications | 7,102 |
IPC-only classifications | 2,792 |
CPC classifications | 4,310 |
Examiners redraft applicant-prepared abstracts of non-PCT national applications when they are found to be deficient to an extent that they are unable to fulfil their function, or not submitted at filing. The abstracts of PCT national phase applications are not reviewed as these have been thoroughly evaluated in the international phase.
IP Australia’s IP Analytics analyses patent data on specific technology fields and provides reports as interactive visualisations or written reports to allow users to access and gain insights from patent information. IP Australia uses its patent analytics capability to provide added value to its International-Type Search (PCT Article 15(5)) reports, which now include an additional patent analytics report. IP Australia also provides patent analytics reports to government agencies and publicly funded researchers upon request.
Information on the following topics is desired:
The number of patent documents published in 2024 in the Australian Official Journal of Patents (AOJP) was:
Note: The AU-A figure includes standard patent, and innovation patents made open to public inspection (OPI) either pre-grant or at grant (does not include National Phase Entries).
The AU-B figure includes standard patent acceptances and innovation patent certifications. The AOJP can be accessed at: https://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/epublish/content/olsAvailablePatentPDFs.jsp
Official notices and changes to office procedures are published in the AOJP. These official notices, and many other patent related notices (including the Manual of Practice and Procedure), are also put directly on the IP Australia website under the Patent notices section: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/news-and-community/official-notices#als_e=0&als_iptags=Patents
The AOJP and the Supplement to the Official Journal of Patents have been combined from 2018 and can be found at: http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/epublish/content/olsAvailablePatentPDFs.jsp
IP Australia uses commercial search tools EPOQUE Net, STN and GenomeQuest to search databases such as EPODOC, DWPI, full text patent databases and many non-patent literature databases. Examiners also use free patent and non-patent literature databases available on the internet.
IP Australia has developed and used various internal examination tools including Family Member Analyser (FMA), Automatic Preliminary Search Tool (APST) and RIO for Patents Citation Manager utilising various databases and tools such as WIPO-CASE, DOCDB, PatentScope, EPO’s Open Patent Services, USPTO’s Open Data Portal and DWPI to assist examiners with searching patent information.
IP Australia publishes the Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure at https://manuals.ipaustralia.gov.au/patent to assist with examination.
The following databases and information are available through the IP Australia and the Australian Government Data website:
IP Australia continues to share patent information with various organisations including WIPO and European Patent Office, with bibliographic data, IPC/CPC classification, documents and citations of Australian & PCT applications to enrich shared international patent information databases.
IP Australia provides the Patent Supplemental Journal in XML format. This includes Legal Status Data.
Note: Interested parties may also download the Patent Supplemental Journal in XML format from the secure FTP server in line with the weekly journal publication dates. It is also freely available on the Patent Supplement Downloadable Journals web page: http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/epublish/content/olsAvailablePatentPDFs.jsp
As noted above, IP Australia provides a WIPO ST.27-based Legal Status API, released in 2022 and found on IP Australia’s API Developer Portal (https://portal.api.ipaustralia.gov.au/s/apis).
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Information on the following topics is desired:
IP Australia uses commercial search tools EPOQUE Net, STN and GenomeQuest to search databases such as EPODOC, DWPI, full text patent databases and many non-patent literature databases. Examiners also use free patent and non-patent literature databases available on the internet.
IP Australia has developed and used various internal examination tools including Family Member Analyser (FMA), Automatic Preliminary Search Tool (APST) and RIO for Patents Citation Manager utilising various databases and tools such as WIPO-CASE, DOCDB, PatentScope, EPO’s Open Patent Services, USPTO’s Open Data Portal and DWPI to assist examiners with searching patent information.
Other tools include:
The Office's publication system provides the following functions:
IP Australia use commercial laptops with Windows 11 Operating system and MS365 office productivity tools.
IP Australia’s online and B2B via API IP Rights application and management tools are all cloud based.
Legacy systems have been moved off-premises and moved into offsite, commercial, shared data centres and high available containerised architecture has been applied to majority of business-critical applications.
The primary business system is the Unix / Java application PAMS which runs in an environment which includes Sun Solaris, Amazon RDS for Oracle, J2EE, BEA WebLogic, and Amazon S3. It is being iteratively replaced with RIO for Patents Workbench, which is an enterprise solution comprising bespoke Vue.JS single-page web application and PEGA case management integrated using MuleSoft APIs and utilising a number of existing and new on-premises and cloud-based technologies. The legacy Oracle database has been migrated to AWS Cloud. RIO for Patents New Applications product connects and exchanges up-to-date bibliographic data and documents with WIPO’s ePCT for applications requesting to enter AU national phase.
Full specifications of all non-PCT designated AU-A, AU-B and AU-C patent specifications are available using the Australian Patent Search and via IP Australia’s patent specification bulk data product. Bibliographic data is available both through the Australian Patent Search and via the Patent Bulk Specification data product.
CPC Classification data is provided regularly to the European Patent Office (EPO) using their Web services API and is integrated into their DOCDB collection. The EPO also uses the Patents Journal and Bulk Specification products to represent a full bibliographic collection of Australian patent data within their DOCDB and INPADOC products.
WIPO CASE also has near real-time access to the Australian register, citations, bibliographic data and patent specifications through a series of APIs.
The purposely built examination tool Family Member Analyser (FMA) allows AU patent examiners to access the latest electronic search file especially examination reports from other offices on the on-demand basis by connecting to Clarivate’s Derwent API, WIPO CASE, PatentScope and USPTO ODP databases.
The Automated Preliminary Search Tool (APST) allows examiners to perform an automated initial search based on limited bibliographic data (applicant and inventor names, IPC and CPC symbols). The tool provides access to published patent specifications (via Clarivate’s Derwent API) as well as providing secure access to internal unpublished specifications held by the office (national and PCT applications).
The administrative team at IP Australia also use the same Rights In One system for management of electronic records, administrative support and workflow.
The previously mentioned PAU project will speed up processing times by reducing manual work and automating high-volume, low risk, and repetitive processes where possible. It will also improve our cybersecurity posture and enable quick and easy system improvements.
PAU’s first sprint, delivered 30 January, automated the processing of valid change agent requests received through our digital channels. With almost 6,000 of these requests received annually, automation allows our staff to focus on other value add Patents administration activities.
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Information on the following topics is desired:
All Australian Patents records/documents are handled in accordance with Office procedures set down under Australian Law and archiving practices.
Australian Patents data is searchable using the Australian Patent Search: https://ipsearch.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/
Australian Patents data is searchable on the EPOs Espacenet: https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/
Australian Patents data is searchable on WIPO’s Patentscope: https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search.jsf
IP Australia provides useful tools and information on a wide range of information related to intellectual property via IP Australia’s website (http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/) including:
IP Australia provides guidelines and resources on how to search existing patents in Australia and internationally at https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/search-existing-patents.
Engagement activities are targeted into the following groups:
Overview of primary engagement activity types:
Ongoing promotion is conducted via social media, email subscription newsletters and proactive message multiplier networks such as peak industry bodies and other government organisations.
IP Australia takes a strategic approach to engagement with small business by establishing a partnership network across government, universities and industry associations, leveraging their networks and the credibility they have in IP Australia’s target audience of start-ups and small to medium enterprises.
This year we are trialling a limited series of podcasts targeted at small business, start-ups and entrepreneurs. The 4 part series will cover:
Please refer to comments in previous section, noting particularly Hybrid Presentations and Workshops (30-45 minutes) above.
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Information on the following topics is desired:
International exchange of patent information can be done using IP Australia’s patents bulk data products: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/tools-and-research/Professional-resources/bulk-data-requests
The Australian Patent Search API allows you to search for Australian patents and retrieve data displayed on the Australian Patent Search website. The API Developer Portal can be accessed at https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/tools-and-research/professional-resources/apis.
On the API Developer Portal, IP Australia also publishes a Patents Legal Status API. This was designed to allow WIPO’s International Bureau and other international IP Offices to retrieve the statuses of Australian patents and applications, as compliant with WIPO Standard ST.27 – Recommendation for the Exchange of Patent Legal Status Data. The dataset provides internationally aligned status codes for comparison across jurisdiction and IP Right type. Some data points do not align precisely with Australian law and as such are an estimate and/or have not been populated.
In addition, various channels can be used for international exchange of patent information in machine-readable form between IP Australia and international organisations, including international intellectual property offices such as WIPO, the European Patent Office to enrich shared international databases of patent information.
IP Australia in engaged with the Committee of WIPO Standards (CWS) and participates in the development and application of standards for IP Offices to exchange data in automated, machine-readable ways. IP Australia is also involved in various non-CWS task forces, workshops and projects.
Key activities include:
IP Australia’s IP Analytics and Office of the Chief Economist participate in the OECD IP Statistics Taskforce.
IP Australia’s IP Analytics actively participated in WIPO Patent Analytics Community of Practices which started in November 2023.
Vancouver Group
The Vancouver Group (VG) was established in 2008 comprising of the IP Offices of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) to share information and experiences on common issues and areas relevant to management of a mid-sized IP Office.
The VG Searching Working Group (VG-SWG) was formed in March 2018 to prioritise collaboration between patent search specialists and allow mutual learning to enhance search quality. The following activities from the workplan have been completed to date: Search Tools and Databases, Search Quality, Search Training, Search Collaboration Workshops and comparison of Search Manuals. The most recent VG Search Collaboration Workshop was conducted in the Chemical field and concluded in 2024.
Other VG activities include:
2024-2026 Bilateral Work Plan with the European Patent Office (EPO)
The work plan details on-going cooperation activities between IP Australia and the EPO. Cooperation areas include:
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Note: For each Standard listed below, please enter one of the following values:
WIPO Standard ST.3: Two-letter codes for the representation of states, other entities and organizations
Implemented
Please provide more details based on your selection
WIPO Standard ST.6: Numbering of published patent documents
Implemented
Please provide more details based on your selection
WIPO Standard ST.9: Bibliographic data on and relating to patents and SPCs
Implemented
Please provide more details based on your selection
WIPO Standard ST.10/C: Presentation of bibliographic data components
No plan to implement
For example, IP Australia is not consistent with the recommendations for application number formatting.
WIPO Standard ST.13: Numbering of applications for IPRs
No plan to implement
IP Australia patents are not numbered in this way and there is no plan to change at present.
WIPO Standard ST.14: References cited in patent documents
Implemented
Please provide more details based on your selection
WIPO Standard ST.16: Identification of different kinds of patent documents
Implemented
Please provide more details based on your selection
WIPO Standard ST.18: Patent gazettes and other patent announcement journals
No plan to implement
For example, IP Australia does not follow the recommendation that the first and last numbers of applications for industrial property rights announced are printed on the cover.
WIPO Standard ST.26: Presentation of nucleotide and amino acid sequence listings using XML
Implemented
Please provide more details based on your selection
WIPO Standard ST.27: Recommendation for the Exchange of Patent Legal Status Data
Implemented
Please provide more details based on your selection
WIPO Standard ST.36: Processing of patent information using XML
Implemented
Please provide more details based on your selection
WIPO Standard ST.37: Recommendation for an Authority File of Published Patent Documents
On implementation phase
Work is currently underway to resolve an issue of missing publication dates before 1998. IP Australia plans to be compliant with version 2.2, in line with changes to the Administrative Instructions for PCT Minimum Documentation.
WIPO Standard ST.50: Corrections, alterations and supplements relating to patent information
Implemented
Note that IP Australia does not print "Correction", "Corrected Version", "Corrigendum" or equivalent on corrected versions of national applications.
WIPO Standard ST.90: Recommendation for processing and communicating Intellectual Property data using Web APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)
No plan to implement
IP Australia follows ST.90 only for external-facing interactions following WIPO Standards requiring XML.
WIPO Standard ST.91: Recommendations on digital three-dimensional (3D) models and 3D images
No plan to implement
IP Australia does not use 3D models and 3D images in patents.
WIPO Standard ST.92: Recommendations on the Data Package Format for the Electronic Exchange of Priority Documents
Planning to implement
Work is underway to prepare the business case for transitioning to the use of the new format, alongside WIPO DAS.
WIPO Standard ST.96: Processing of Industrial Property information using XML
No plan to implement
IP Australia follows ST.96 only for external-facing API interactions when for WIPO/IB consumption.
Note: Please list any other WIPO Standards related to patents (not mentioned above) that your Office or Organization has implemented, is currently in the process of implementing, or plans to implement in the future. For each Standard, please indicate the implementation status with an option: Implemented, On implementation Phase or Planning to Implement.
Please provide more details
Please include any other relevant information here.
Please insert links to specific pages on your website where the above information is available in English, French, or Spanish. See other requirements above. You may also provide text instead of links.
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.
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