Guide for Australian Patent Application Process

Patent Trademark

Australia Profile

Australia, or the Commonwealth of Australia, is the country that includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the sixth largest country in the world with a total area of 7,692,024 square kilometers. Neighboring countries to the north include Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea;Read more

Australia Profile

Australia, or the Commonwealth of Australia, is the country that includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the sixth largest country in the world with a total area of 7,692,024 square kilometers. Neighboring countries to the north include Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the northeast; and New Zealand to the southeast. The capital of Australia is Canberra and the largest city is Sydney.

Australian Intellectual Property Legal System

  • "Patent Law"
  • "Patent Rules"
  • "trademark law"
  • Trade Marks Ordinance
  • "Designs Act"
  • "Designs Regulations"
  • The Plant Breeders Bill of Rights
  • Plant Breeders' Rights Regulations

International Organization/Agreement

  • Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled
  • Patent Law Treaty
  • Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks
  • WIPO Copyright Treaty
  • WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
  • Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
  • Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations
  • Brussels Convention on the Sending of Program Signals for Satellite Transmissions
  • Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
  • Patent Cooperation Treaty
  • "Strasbourg Agreement S on the International Patent Classification"
  • Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms
  • "Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization"
  • Nice Agreement on the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks
  • Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
  • Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
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Filing Language
English

申请流程 Application Process Flow

发明专利申请流程 Invention

Name of Patent Office

IP Australia

English: Australian Patent Office, abbreviation: IP Australia

Website: IP Australia | Protect The Value Of Your Ideas

Australian invention patent search: IP Australia: AusPat Quick Search

  • Prior to 2000, the Australian "Patents Act" divided patent rights into three types: standard patents, supplementary patents and petty patents. After November 2000, small patents were changed to innovation patents, but only 20 years later, Australia revised its patent law again, and after August 25, 2021, the protection of this type of patent for innovation patents was cancelled.

  • numbering system

    type

    Patent Application No

    Authorized patent number

    Before November 2000patent

    [5-digit application serial number] + [/] + [2-digit or 4-digit AD calendar]

    Example: 27224/95

    		[6-digit serial number] Example: 671575
    provisional application

    【P】+【any letter】+【4-digit patent application serial number】

    Example: PQ8122

    		Same application number example: 2003100002
    After November 2000Innovation patent

    【4-digit AD Year】＋【6-digit application serial number】

    Example: 2003100002

    same application number

    Example: 2003262396

    patent

    【4-digit AD Year】＋【6-digit application serial number】

    Example: 2003262396

    		 
    provisional application

    【4-digit AD Year】＋【6-digit application serial number】

    Example: 2013900001

    		 

    Numbering Rules for Design Patents

    year 2004

    Before June 17

    		exterior design

    [4-digit application serial number] + [2-digit or 4-digit AD date]

    Example: 2065/85;0718/2003

    【AU】+【-】+【5-digit granted serial number】

    Example: AU-S-95448

    year 2004

    After June 17

    [1] + [4-digit application serial number] + [4-digit AD date]

    1 indicates that it is a design number that has undergone formality examination, for example: 13112/2004

    【AU】+【3】+【5-digit granted serial number】+【S】

    Authorization sequence numbers are arranged sequentially from 00001
     

Filing Language: English

via Paris Conventionvia Nationalization of PCT

Necessary documents:

  1. Abstract
  2. Abstract Drawing
  3. Claim
  4. Specification
  5. Drawing

Necessary documents:

  1. Abstract
  2. Abstract Drawing
  3. Claim
  4. Specification
  5. Drawing

Attachments (if any)

  1. Sequence Listing (PDF format and TXT format)
  2. Deposited Receipt of Microorganism and English Translation
  3. Viability Statement of Microorganism and English Translation
  4. Scanned Copy of Certified Priority Document / DAS
  5. Declaration of Ownership/Certification of Employment/Assignment of Priority
  6. Assignment for Patent Right Transfer
  7. Notification issued by CNIPA notify the applicant the application has passed through the security review.
  8. Translator Statement

 

Attachments (if any)

  1. WIPO Publication
  2. ISR/IPRP
  3. Amendments under Art. 19/34/28/41 at the time of the national phase entry
  4. Sequence Listing (PDF format and TXT format)
  5. Deposited Receipt of Microorganism and English Translation
  6. Viability Statement of Microorganism and English Translation
  7. Declaration of Ownership/Certification of Employment/Assignment of Priority
  8. Assignment for Patent Right Transfer
  9. Translator Statement

20 years, drug patents can apply for protection to 24 years.

  • via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
  • via Nationalization of PCT : 31 months from earliest priority date.

IP Australia conducts formal and substantive examinations for invention patent application. Patent applicants are required to file a request for substantive examination within 5 years from the filing date, or within 2 months after receipt of the notification (whichever expires earlier). If there are any defects in the examination, the patent applicant has 12 months to solve them. If the defects cannot be overcome, the patent application will be invalid. If no opposition occurs within the 3-month opposition period, the patent application will be granted.

If the patentee, the applicant or its original right holder has a patent disclosure due to the following reasons:

  • Inventions are inventions that are exhibited, used, or published at internationally recognized exhibitions. Information on inventions is disclosed at an academy, or published under representatives of an academy. Patents for use of inventions in public make information disclosure.

  • If the disclosure is caused by a third party, and the disclosure by the third party has not been agreed by the applicant, the patentee or its original right holder

    The patent application can enjoy a novelty grace period of 12 months.

4-5 years

  • Grant Fee: Applicant need to pay the grant fee within 3 months after receiving the granted notice. 
  • Annuity: Annuity should be paid from the 5th year from the filing date, the annual fee should be paid before the filing date of each year. If overdue, the payment can be postponed to a grace period of 6 months, but a penalty of AUD 100.00 is required every month.

Acceptance of restoration of priority on grounds of "due care" and "unintentional/due care".

Yes

No

For innovation patents that have ceased application on August 25, 2021, the innovation patents that have been applied for can still enjoy the corresponding 8-year protection period.

Name of Patent Office

IP Australia

English: Australian Patent Office, abbreviation: IP Australia

Website: IP Australia | Protect The Value Of Your Ideas

Australian Design Patent Search: IP Australia: AusPat Quick Search

  • Prior to 2000, the Australian "Patents Act" divided patent rights into three types: standard patents, supplementary patents and petty patents. After November 2000, small patents were changed to innovation patents, but only 20 years later, Australia revised its patent law again, and after August 25, 2021, the protection of this type of patent for innovation patents was cancelled.

  • numbering system

    type

    Patent Application No

    Authorized patent number

    Before November 2000patent

    [5-digit application serial number] + [/] + [2-digit or 4-digit AD calendar]

    Example: 27224/95

    		[6-digit serial number] Example: 671575
    provisional application

    【P】+【any letter】+【4-digit patent application serial number】

    Example: PQ8122

    		Same application number example: 2003100002
    After November 2000Innovation patent

    【4-digit AD Year】＋【6-digit application serial number】

    Example: 2003100002

    same application number

    Example: 2003262396

    patent

    【4-digit AD Year】＋【6-digit application serial number】

    Example: 2003262396

    		 
    provisional application

    【4-digit AD Year】＋【6-digit application serial number】

    Example: 2013900001

    		 

    Numbering Rules for Design Patents

    year 2004

    Before June 17

    		exterior design

    [4-digit application serial number] + [2-digit or 4-digit AD date]

    Example: 2065/85;0718/2003

    【AU】+【-】+【5-digit granted serial number】

    Example: AU-S-95448

    year 2004

    After June 17

    [1] + [4-digit application serial number] + [4-digit AD date]

    1 indicates that it is a design number that has undergone formality examination, for example: 13112/2004

    【AU】+【3】+【5-digit granted serial number】+【S】

    Authorization sequence numbers are arranged sequentially from 00001
     

Filing Language: English

Necessary documents:

  1. Pictures/Photos of Design (6-sided views)
  2. A Brief Description

Attachments (if any):

  1. Scanned Copy of Certified Priority Document /DAS
  2. Declaration of Ownership/Certification of Employment/Assignment of Priority
  3. Assignment for Patent Right Transfer

10 years

via Paris Convention : 6 months from earliest priority date.

In Australia, there are two different procedures for the acquirement of the design patent right: registration and certification. Both of these are required to legally exercise design rights. After IP Australia's 8-week preliminary review of the design, the design patent will obtain a Letters Patent. If the applicant wants to implement the design patent right, he must file the request for substantive examination of 13 weeks by IP Australia's and response to OA, and a certified will be issued until pass through the examination. 

Not applicable

  • Grant Fee: None.
  • Annuity: The renewal request must be made within 12 months before the expiration of the registration period. If the annual fee is overdue, the payment can be postponed within a grace period of 6 months, but a penalty of 100.00 Australian dollars will be paid.

  • Procedure for Registration: 2 weeks.
  • Procedure for Certification: 4 months.

Designs with a filing date after March 10, 2022, where the first disclosure occurs after that date due to:

  • Inadvertently making a design public
  • Didn't know the design needed to apply for protection before it was disclosed.

Then a design patent application can enjoy a novelty grace period of 12 months.

No

Yes

Yes. It is allowed to include multiple designs in one design application.

发明专利、实用新型及外观设计进入国家申请流程
套餐价格（官费和服务费） / Package fee

Currency Unit: RMB

Patent Type Route Click to Get Price List In Detail Package Fee
Invention Paris Convention

Australia Invention Patent Paris Convention Application fee

Basic Services: 28340.00
Value Service: 31620.00
Expert service: 42550.00
PCT

Australia Invention Patent PCT Application fee

Basic Services: 28340.00
Value Service: 31620.00
Expert service: 42550.00
Appearance Design Paris Convention

Australia Appearance Design Patent Paris Convention Application fee

Basic Services: 15600.00
Explanation of Package Fee:
  • Basic Package Fee: Contains the standard cost of the necessary stage for a patent application from new-filing to be granted.
  • Value Service: In addition to the above, the package fee also contains the service for analysis and comments concerning the office action provided by lawyer.
  • Expert service: In addition to the above, the package fee also contains the service for analysis, comments and amendments concerning the office action provided by lawyer.
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