Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2021 submitted by IP Australia

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:

• Link to pages with information in English, Spanish, or French
• The URL will remain stable over time (at least three years, preferably more)
• Goes to the specific information requested, not to a general homepage
• If the URL goes to a long PDF document such as an annual report, please indicate which sections or pages contain relevant information.
• Provide additional instructions for using the URL if needed. For instance, if the page requires the user to login first, or if the requested information requires selecting certain options or filters on the page that can not be included in the URL. 

I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PATENT INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of patent information activities and expected time frames for their realization

IP Australia’s vision is to deliver world leading IP services that are modern, effective and efficient to ensure all Australians benefit from great ideas, through administration of IP rights. The world watched the disruptions of COVID-19 affect daily life, travel, business and health, however the crisis brought forward challenges to adapt the way we live and work. IP rights facilitate creativity, innovation and diffusion of ideas, and in 2021 record numbers of patents, trade marks and designs were filed in Australia (see IP Report). IP Australia has continued to provide excellent service to our customers, while focusing on critical activities that transform service delivery for the benefit of the IP Rights ecosystem. 

IP Australia’s policy objectives in relation to patents include simplified access to the patent system and enhancing educational offerings, tools and services for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Our international goals include a coherent regulatory and technological landscape for simplifying administrative requirements, and to continue international collaboration on reducing duplication of work on the same patent in different jurisdictions. 

New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks

Patents Modernisation Initiative (PMI): In the 2021 IP Australia continued with the multiple year PMI journey to modernise internal Patent systems to make it easier for examination and administration staff to perform their work. A more detailed description of the PMI program can be found in subsequent sections. 

Transactional Digital Service (TDS) program: IP Australia continued to work on multiple phases of the TDS program to partially fulfilling the objectives of ensuring all Australians benefit from great ideas by providing world-leading IP related and government leading digital services digital services that are modern, efficient and effective. A more detailed description of the TDS program can be found in subsequent sections.  

Innovative and smartexamination tools for Patent Examiners: In the 2021, IP Australia continued working on several projects for developing and releasing of smart examination tools, to further improve the efficiency and quality of patent examination. Descriptions of those smart patent examination tools can be found in the subsequent sections. 

Customer Value Program (CVP): The new CVP program vision is to ensure all Australians benefit from great ideas by providing world-leading IP related digital services that are modern, efficient and effective.  The CVP aims to transform IP Australia’s internal processes and capabilities and align them to a customer-centric and delivery-focused model. The program will drive efficiencies for end-to-end IP rights administration and improve engagement and satisfaction for IP Australia’s customers. 

The Customer Value Program will deliver four key capabilities: 

• A modern, practical and informative corporate website  

• A modern, effective correspondence and notification platform   

• Streamlined and efficient processes and services for customers  

• New operating model for customer experience 

Main areas of patent information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year

In the space of patent information, IP Australia’s Patent Analytics Hub published patent analytics reports on the battery industries, plant biotechnology, and the Australian Government’s 63 Critical Technologies in the National Interest. 

Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes

In 2021, applications for patents, trade marks and designs reached record highs, as Australians have adapted how they live and work, shifted to remote work, embraced new communication services, and invested to improve their homes. For more information on patent filing trends and statistics, please review the Australian Intellectual Property Report 2022. 

Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.

Latest news: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/news-and-community/news 

Statistics: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/research-and-data 

Annual Report (IP Report): https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/research-and-data/australian-ip-report

Patent Search Systems and Data sources:

AusPat - AusPat is IP Australia's search database that allows inventors, industry and researchers to access patent applications lodged and granted in Australia. http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/faqs.html 

IPGOD - Intellectual Property Government Open Data—is a publicly available data set that provides access to over 100 years of information from IP Australia on IP rights applications.  https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/research-and-data/ip-government-open-data 

IPLORD - Intellectual Property Longitudinal Research Data is the annual snapshot of the stocks and flows of intellectual property (IP) rights for 362,990 Australian and 253,285 international applicants over 20 years.  https://data.gov.au/dataset/ds-dga-41383895-e0ea-4904-b3e1-ae5b938e82a5/details?q= 

Patent Analytics Hub: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/research-and-data/patent-analytics-hub 

Bulk Data Products: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/doing-business-us/bulk-data-products 

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs

IP Australia provides information on its website to support applicants filing. https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/tools-resources/online-services/online-services-learning-centre/file-requirements

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: 

• https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/applying-patent/international-application-process/applying-international-application; and 
• https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/applying-patent/international-application-process/applying-international-application/how-file 

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

The Patent application dossier is always available via the Patent search system, AusPat. http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/quickSearch.do 

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), reclassification³ activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information

IP Australia has been classifying direct filings, Paris Convention route AU applications and PCT applications with International Patent Classification (IPC) for publication. IP Australia uses the most up-to-date version of IPC schema for the purpose of classification. 

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. Becoming a CPC Classifying Office will strengthen IP Australia’s partnerships in direct alignment with our vision of creating a world leading IP system. In the 2021, CPC/IPC classification was fully integrated with the new patent case management system, RIO for Patents Workbench.  

The new 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. Tasks with multiple technology areas are distributed to multiple technology sections in parallel. The latest version of CPC and IPC schemas are used in the system, and CPC classifications are automatically concorded to IPC classifications.  

The system also performs automated administrative CPC reclassification when there is an updated CPC version and creates revision tasks for intellectual revision of symbols prior to publication. A Maintain classification function also exists for use by classifiers to correct any previously classified symbols and carry out intellectual reclassification as directed. In addition, RIO Classification was built with the capacity to automatically transfer CPC classified data to the European Patent Office (EPO) patent database when the applications are officially published. In the 2021, IP Australia carried out 6234 IPC Classifications and 22820 CPC Classifications.  

Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents

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. 

Other activities

IP Australia’s Patent Analytics Hub 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 (PTC Art 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. 

III. SOURCES OF PATENT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

Main types of publications of the Office (patent applications, full text, first pages, abstracts, bibliographic data, granted patents, etc.), medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)

The number of patent documents published in 2021 in the Australian Official Journal of Patents (AOJP) was:  

• patent applications open to public inspection (AU-A) = 16,887 

• patent applications advertised accepted (AU-B) = 17,893  

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.  

Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.

Official notices and changes to office procedures are published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents (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. The AOJP and he 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 

Information on IP Australia’s Bulk Data Products can be found at: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/doing-business-us/bulk-data-products 

Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external collections and databases

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), FER Feature Analysis (FFA), Automatic Preliminary Search Tool (APST) and RIO Patents Citation Manager utilising various databases and tools such as WIPO-CASE, DOCDB, EPO’s Open Patent Services, DWPI to assist Examiners with searching patent information. 

Non-Patent Literature - https://manuals.ipaustralia.gov.au/patent/2.1.7.5-non-patent-literature 

Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to external users, conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)

Australian patent specifications are made available through Bulk Patent Specification and Patent Bibliographic Bulk Data products - https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/doing-business-us/bulk-data-products 

The following databases and information are available through the IP Australia website: 

• AusPat (free of charge) - http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/quickSearch.do
• IPGOD and IPGOLD data (free of charge) - https://www.data.gov.au/search?organisation=IP%20Australia
• APIs - https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/api-transaction-channel/ip-right-management-api
• Subscription-based mailing lists - https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/news-and-community/stay-informed

IP Australia continues to share patent information with various external 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 

Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)

IP Australia provides the Patent Supplemental Journal in XML format. This includes Legal Status Data. Legal Status Data elements have not been singled out in any particular format as this will be done in line with decisions of the CWS and Legal Status Data Task Force. 

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 

Patent Legal Status API - IP Australia conforms to ST.27 Patent Legal Status and has worked on Patent Legal Status API in 2021 (not yet publically available). 

Other sources

No comment provided. 

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements

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), FER Features Analysis (FFA), Automatic Preliminary Search Tool (APST) and RIO for Patents Citation Manager utilising various databases and tools such as WIPO-CASE, DOCDB, EPO’s Open Patent Services, DWPI to assist Examiners with searching patent information. 

The Patent Modernisation Initiative (PMI) – This is a series of projects modernising IP Australia’s back-end patents systems and processes. This includes both infrastructure upgrades and process improvements, including replacing manual processes with built in task workflows and/or automation, a new citation manager, and efficient reuse of data between systems. This aims to improve examiner and administration efficiency and quality. It will integrate with the other tools mentioned herein, such as Patent Auto Classifier, FMA, and Automated Preliminary Search. To date CPC/IPC classification and National Examination have been delivered. PCT processing (RO, ISA and IPEA functions) connected to ePCT is due for release in July 2022 with Article 15(5) international type search a month behind. 

Online Application portal (replacing eServices) is a bespoke interactive cloud-based website for self-filers to file applications and mange existing IPRs.  https://portal.ipaustralia.gov.au/login 

B2B API channel allows professional IP service providers to submit applications and manage IPRs via APIs https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/api-transaction-channel 

Order Management Workbench (OMW) is an internal web-based interface which allows formalities staff to enter paper based applications and manually correct issues and errors with filings. It is a bespoke java application. 

Patent Application Management System (PAMS) is the primary tool for managing examiner work flow in the national phase. It is a bespoke, Unix/Java-based web application. 

AusPat is the definitive Australian patents search engine which is the interface into the official patent register. AusPat contains bibliographic and status information from applications submitted from January 1979 on. AusPat also contains International Patent Classification information for the majority applications from 1920; IPC version 8 has been applied to applications filed from 1970.  

The Office's publication system provides the following functions 

• Production of the AOJP Supplement as a PDF file and XML format available for download. 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. 

INTESS is the application the office uses for managing PCT applications and PCT-EDI for data exchange but is moving to ePCT for the management of PCT applications. INTESS is due to be decommissioned in the next few months, with RO functions moving to ePCT Portal for Offices, and ISA/IPEA functions moving to the RIO for Patents Workbench. 

Remote Access: Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns required most staff to work from home (WFH) for an extended period. Reliance on, and capability for remote access matured quickly. IP Australia implemented a Future Ways Of Working program in 2019 to facilitate more geographically diverse staff, allowing more staff to work from home more often. As this capability was established prior to the pandemic, IPA was able to pivot to WFH during lockdowns as compared to other organisations without remote working capability. 

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

IP Australia use commercial laptops with Windows 10 Operating system and MS365 office productivity tools. Transition to Windows 11 is planned for the coming months. MS Teams and SharePoint are being introduced as primary collaboration technologies. 

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. 

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

The primary business system is the Unix / Java application PAMS which runs in an environment which includes Sun Solaris, Oracle RDBMS, J2EE, BEA Weblogic, and Objective EDMS. 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-premise and cloud-based technologies. 

Full specifications of all non-PCT designated AU-A, AU-B and AU-C patent specifications are available on the AusPat website and via IP Australia’s patent specification bulk data product. 

Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file

The purposely built examination tool Family Member Analyser (FMA) allowed AU patent examiners to access the latest electronic search file especially examination reports from other offices on the on-demand basis by connecting to various databases including WIPO CASE and Clarivate’s Derwent API.  

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).  

Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)

The Transactional Digital Services (TDS) Program has successfully transformed IP Australia’s digital business model. TDS developed a contemporary and customer centric API-led platform which allowed IPA to reimagine the transactional experience for our customers. Leveraging this modern API ecosystem, the program completely redeveloped our B2B service offering for progressive customers and released this channel into production in 2019. The program recently delivered IP Australia’s new online services website experience. By utilising customer led delivery, the platform has significantly reduced red tape and made accessing the IP system simpler for all Australians. The completion of the program has now cemented IP Australia at the forefront of digital government services. IP Australia continues to deliver improvements to this system, including those based on customer feedback, in 3-week development/release sprint cycles.  

The Patent Modernisation Initiative (PMI) mentioned above is a series of projects modernising IP Australia’s back-end patents systems and processes. This includes both infrastructure upgrades and process improvements, including replacing manual processes with built in task workflows and/or automation, a new citation manager, and efficient reuse of data between systems. This aims to improve examiner and administration efficiency and quality.  Focus to date has been on examiner processes but work is about to start on the administrative processes. 

Other matters

No comment made.

V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF PATENT INFORMATION

Information on the following topics is desired:

Patent library: equipment, collection management, network of patent libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign patent libraries

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 on AusPat: http://auspat-dev.ocpdev.aipo.gov.au/pss/welcome.do 

Australian Patents data is searchable on the EPOs Espacenet: https://worldwide.espacenet.com/ 

Australian Patents data is searchable on WIPO’s Patentscope: https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search.jsf 

Publications related to different business procedures and patent information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.

IP Australia publishes its patent Manual of Practice and Procedure online at https://manuals.ipaustralia.gov.au/patent 

AusPat user guide (http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/auspat_userguide.pdf) is published here http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/learning.html 

Office's initiatives on providing foreign patent information in the local language(s) (e.g., machine translation tools, translation of abstracts)

No comment made.

Cooperation with universities, research centers, technology and innovation support centers, etc.

IP Australia works with universities, government agencies and industry bodies to uplift capability in the understanding and application of intellectual property rights, from knowledge creation to commercialisation. We have worked with a broad cross section of universities, from accelerator programs developed for Indigenous business owners through to post-graduate researchers in various disciplines. We can customise content and provide subject matter experts.  

IP Australia provides a contemporary website with rich digital content including on-demand webinars, video case studies, written case studies, an Education and Resources page to help users navigate information on the website and direct them to relevant resources depending on their particular interest.  

Social media has emerged as a key channel, a focus on this throughout 2021-2022 has seen significant increase in engagement and an uplift in trust and credibility demonstrated by the richer level of comment and queries received through social channels. This year we launched on Instagram and found high levels of engagement with an average of 2000 views per reel (video). This is much higher than other channels. 

We continue to partner with peak bodies, leveraging their networks to reach a broader audience – particularly for Exporters, Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and indigenous business. 

For exporters, IP Australia maintains an ongoing relationship with the Export Council of Australia (ECA), providing IP materials that assist Australian businesses when exporting. IP Australia and the ECA cross-promote events, programs and speaking opportunities. The appointment of a new IP Counsellor in China provides expertise to guide and connect Australians with the China innovation system. This IP Counsellor helps Australian companies make the most of their IP in China and other international markets. The counsellor has recorded on –demand webinars and facilitated information sessions and webinars for exporters and is available to ensure education resources are contemporary and relevant. 

For Indigenous business, IP Australia has developed customised products and an Indigenous Knowledge IP Hub – specifically designed to provide information to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island business owners, and any other business that wants to engage with Indigenous Knowledge in their business – including guidance on how to navigate sensitivities and work respectfully. We have launched ‘Yarnline’ a call back enquiry service for Indigenous business owners, and those who wish to engage with Indigenous knowledge in their business. We have trained examiners, some Indigenous, some non- Indigenous, to engage appropriately with this key audience. 

Instagram has emerged as an effective channel in reaching indigenous business communities in urban, rural and remote areas. By partnering with Aboriginal Arts foundations, other government agencies and university programs, IP Australia leverages networks to share the content that is available via multimedia (videos and animations) and fact sheets etc. 

Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.

IP Australia have continued strong engagement with other government agencies, leveraging grant and support programs. Where these programs have business facilitators who work ‘on the ground’ with SMEs, a ‘train the trainer’ program has been piloted with outstanding results. The program has demonstrably uplifted capability and confidence for business facilitators within AusIndustry’s Entrepreneurs Program, with excellent feedback from the business facilitators and their clients alike.  

Ongoing evaluation will provide qualitative and quantitative data. The program will be rolled out across more teams in the Entrepreneurs Program and will also be made available to other partners by the end of 2022 calendar year and be available as on-demand product. Our You tube channel provides access to a broad range of on demand webinar product to learn about all things patents, from an introduction to the system to how to apply through to patents as part of IP strategy. 

Information is delivered through a variety of channels to meet the needs of diverse audiences, this includes information sessions (virtual and face to face), on demand webinars, case studies and working collaboratively to develop web content and links. Much engagement has come by way of referral, reflecting an appetite for IP information across sectors and channels. Demand for virtual (VC) information sessions is strong and sustained. 

The Education and Resources page helps users navigate the website and find the information they are looking for quickly and easily. A new website is under development and will provide an even more streamlined user experience.  

Other activities

No comment made.

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PATENT INFORMATION

Information on the following topics is desired:

International exchange and sharing of patent information in machine-readable form, e.g., priority documents, bibliographic data, abstracts, search reports, full text information

International exchange of patent information can be done using IP Australia’s patents bulk data products: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/doing-business-us/bulk-data-products. 

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. 

Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to patent information

IP Australia’s Patent Analytics Hub and Office of the Chief Economist participate in the OECD IP Statistics Taskforce and presented and chaired sessions for the OECD’s June 2022 Conference on IP Statistics for Decision Makers. 

IP Australia’s Patent Analytics Hub and Office of the Chief Economist will participate in the inaugural activities of WIPO’s Patent Analytics Community of Practice (CoP) in 2022, and present at the EPO’s Patent Knowledge Week 2022 (pending confirmation). 

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. A work plan  was developed  in 2017.  

As part of the work plan, 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, comparison of Search Manuals and two pilot workshops concluded under Search Collaboration activity. The VG-SWG is considering proposals for the new work plan and future activities.     

2021-2023 Bilateral Workplan with the European Patent Office (EPO)  

The 2021-2023 IPA-EPO Bilateral Workplan  builds on the on-going cooperation between IP Australia and the EPO on patent administration, examination and quality. Activities under the current workplan are either continued or expanded from the previous workplan. Cooperation objectives include: 

• sharing best practices in Computer Implemented inventions, including emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning and blockchain. 
• exchanging views on implementing Quality Management Systems (ISO9001) and approaches to improving customer experiences.  

• Re-use of search and examination products under the bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), now moved from pilot to permanent program between EPO and IP Australia. Optimise work-sharing potential offered by common tools such as EPOQUE Net. 
• continue engagement on Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) to improve accuracy and consistency in classifying patent applications.    

Assistance to developing countries

WIPO Funds-in-Trust 

IP Australia provides assistance to developing countries through WIPO Funds-In-Trust (FIT). Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions, some activities under FIT 3 were cancelled and the program was extended to December 2021. Funds for cancelled activities were pivoted and where possible activities were delivered virtually. The FIT 3 program is now complete and successfully achieved a 78% spend of available funds during a global pandemic.  

Other activities

No comment made.

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

Please include any other relevant information here.

No comment made.

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.