CWS.ATR.PI.2012.AU

Annual Technical Report 2012 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Australia (CWS/ATR/PI/2012/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

2011:
Patent applications filed = 25,520
Patents granted = 17,873
PCT designations = N/A*


2012:
Patent applications filed = 26,358
Patents granted = 17,724
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

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 2012, 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, but a decline from most major filing countries in Europe. Please refer to the recently released “Australian Intellectual Property Report 2013” for more detailed discussion and analysis. This report is available on the following link:
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media/latest-news-listing/?doc=139604&view=Detail

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

http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/what-we-do/ip-statistics/

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 2012 in the Australian Official Journal of Patents (AOJP) was:

* patent applications open to public inspection (AU-A) = 8,952
* patent applications advertised accepted (AU-B) = 17,444

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.

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

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.

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

Australian patent specifications are made available through Bulk Patent Specification e-data.

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

AusPat
This database contains bibliographic and status information about 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.

Word processing and office automation

Current standard desktop software includes Microsoft Windows 7 with Microsoft Office 2010. Intelledox software has been deployed to semi-automate report generation.

(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 AOJP Supplement as a PDF file. The Supplement covers applications from 2002. 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:
• PDF file of the Australian Official Journal of Patents. This covers applications/patents up to 2002;
• 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://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/publications-listing/journals/

Information on IP Australia’s Bulk Data Products can be found at:

http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/corporate/bulk-data-products/
IP Australia has released a new website. Any links to the previous site will be redirected to the new home page. Please contact IP Australia if you need assistance.

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 an 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.

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 the website

AusPat
This database contains bibliographic and status information about 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.))

Updating

Updates to the website 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.

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 public access to a range of the bibliographic data and text of full specifications held in PAMS

External databases

IP Australia uses commercial search tools EPOQUE, STN and GenomeQuest to search databases such as EPODOC, WPI, full text patent databases and many non-patent literature databases. Additionally, many free patent and non-patent literature databases available in the internet are also searched.

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 7 with Office 2010 , IE 9.0 , and Microsoft Outlook.

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 a central office in Canberra.

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.

Collection management, preservation

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

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/
IP Australia has released a new website. Any links to the previous site will be redirected to the new home page. Please contact IP Australia if you need assistance.

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

IP Australia has released a new website. Any links to the previous site will be redirected to the new home page. Please contact IP Australia if you need assistance.

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/get-the-right-ip/patents/

Publications and forms
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/get-the-right-ip/patents/patent-forms/

AND

http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/publications-listing/

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/get-the-right-ip/patents/search-for-a-patent/

IP Australia has released a new website. Any links to the previous site will be redirected to the new home page. Please contact IP Australia if you need assistance.

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 the website, and are updated on a weekly basis.
Australian patent specifications are made available through Bulk Patent Specification e-data.

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. Priority documents can also be provided in electronic form using the WIPO DAS service.

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 presented at the following seminars and workshops in 2012:

• Intellectual Property Education and Training Regional Workshop in Malaysia. IP Australia shared experiences from developing a suite of competency based IP training courses. Participants of the program gained a detailed understanding of how to plan, develop and execute a comprehensive package of IP training courses.

• Financial Forecasting Training Mission to the Philippines. IP Australia was engaged by WIPO to deliver financial forecasting and modelling training to officers from the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL). The training program covered topics such as the importance of embedding internal budget processes into organisational planning and management, revenue and expenditure monitoring and forecasting, activity based costing, fee setting and cost recovery, and general reporting. Participants also gained good insight into the current financial practices, methodologies and techniques used by both IPOPHL and IP Australia. The training was delivered to the IPOPHL Executive Committee, senior management and finance staff.


• World Intellectual Property Organization Policy Dialogue on Patent Work-sharing Initiatives in Singapore. IP Australia shared experiences on the Vancouver Group activities and on the benefits of work-sharing initiatives between IP offices.

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

• IP Australia supported an expert mission assisting Samoa to develop its national IP strategy. The program focussed on Samoa’s existing IP environment, needs and opportunities and resulted in the development of a draft national intellectual property strategy for Samoa.

• IP Australia hosted a visit from 4 South African delegates on quality system benchmarking. The visit focused on IP Australia’s quality management systems, quality standards and business processes used across four IP rights categories (patents, trade marks, design and plant breeder’s rights).

• IP Australia hosted a study visit for 11 Vietnamese delegates to discuss patents and technology transfer. The aim of the program was to develop technology transfer skills. The program successfully achieved this aim through interactive workshops and practical exercises that focussed on developing knowledge on technology transfer and investigating technology transfer pathways.

• IP Australia delivered training to Malaysian patent examiners. This activity focused on training 16 new patent examiners on the basics of patent examination (novelty, inventive step, clarity, unity and searching).

• IP Australia has provided 7 free searches for developing countries.

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

Key promotional activities in 2012:

Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention exhibition
IP Australia has sponsored the Australian tour of “Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention”, an exhibition originally developed by the UK Intellectual Property Office, Aardman Animation and the Science Museum in London. The exhibition showed at Scienceworks, Melbourne from May to November 2012 and attracted close to 107,000 visitors. It then moved to the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney in December 2012 and will continue until late May 2013.

World IP Day
IP Australia arranged a trial of the “Great Inventor’s BBQ” where patent holders in the ACT were invited to an event on site. Around a dozen inventors displayed their inventions and interacted with examiners and staff. The event attracted significant local media coverage.

IP Reform
Throughout 2012, IP Australia provided regular updates to customers and stakeholders, via media releases and direct marketing activities, on key elements and consultations relating to the IP Laws Amendment ACT 2012 which will be in force from 15 April 2013.

Vocational Education and Training (VET)
IP Australia has developed a range of courses on IP rights management and commercialisation for students in the Vocational Education and Training sector. 35 confirmed Registered Training Organisations (RTO) across all Australian states are now offering one or more units as electives. A South Australian based RTO based has included IP Australia’s unit covering copyright as a core unit in its Certificate IV in Library Studies course.

E-Services
In late April 2012, IP Australia launched e-services, providing customers with the opportunity to log in to a secure portal, update their details, renew all IP rights, submit trade mark applications and pay online. A second release in late October 2012 saw the introduction of new e-forms for applications across all four registered rights, forms to request examination and to postpone acceptance of patents.

In partnership with the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ), IP Australia held roadshows in all mainland capitals to demonstrate several initiatives including B2B, eServices, IP reform, national and international IP areas and the fee review.

Audience specific activities

Exporters:
IP Australia has continued a partnership with the Australian Institute of Export which has enabled publication of a range of editorial pieces relating to IP and exporting. The IP Passport series of 15 fact sheets were updated to include QR codes, linking to relevant website content.

Engineers:
IP Australia has begun investigating options to collaborate with Engineers Australia. Opportunities for a closer working relationship would ultimately result in greater access to distribution channels, thus improving IP Australia’s ability to directly promote the value and benefits of intellectual property to this sector.

Stakeholder engagement
IP Australia hosted two IP Professionals Forums and IP Forums throughout 2012, providing a high level of interaction with IP professionals, businesses and other key stakeholders.

In 2012, the Executive Visits Program (EVP) was established to govern engagement between IP Australia’s executive and senior representatives from industry associations and private enterprise. The EVP is a comprehensive program of face-to-face meetings with chief executives (or equivalent) to discuss topical IP issues and provides a valuable opportunity to learn how users of the IP system maximise the value of their intangible assets.

Indigenous Stakeholder Engagement
IP Australia has continued to attend workshops and events around Australia to promote Dream Shield, a program to raise awareness of intellectual property rights to Indigenous Australia. Events of note include the 2012 Australian Indigenous Minority Suppliers Council conference and the Indigenous Economic Development Field Officers Forum.


Exhibits
IP Australia exhibited at numerous events across Australia in 2012 including “BizSmart Expo”, Sunshine Coast Business Expo and “Small Business Big Marketing Trade Show”.

State Office Events
There were approximately 140 events undertaken in 2012 by the State Marketing Managers. These events targeted a wide range of audiences including SMEs, exporters and designers.

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/

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/Series/C2004A04014
Patents Regulations
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/F1996B02697

contain the Annual Report of the Office

Annual Report
http://www.innovation.gov.au/AboutUs/CorporatePublications/AnnualReports/Pages/default.aspx
(Information on IP Australia: chapters 9 - 14)

X. Other relevant matters

IP Australia a new website. Any links to the previous site will be redirected to the new home page. Please contact IP Australia if you need assistance.