IP Australia makes high-quality, low-cost patent searching available to all

An Australian Patent Office search is a cost-effective option for non-Australians 

Australia’s Patent Office, IP Australia, has recently slashed its fees for carrying out an international‑type search (ITS) under Article 15(5) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT; see here). The revised fee is A$950. At the time of writing, that is about US$720 or €645.

This reduction has obvious advantages for Australian innovators. Less obviously, it also makes an Australian Patent Office (APO) search a cost-effective option for non-Australians too. The only prerequisite for requesting such a search is an Australian provisional patent application, for which the official fee is only A$110.

An APO search is a high-quality search – the APO is one of a handful of searching authorities whose search results entitle applicants to reduced European Patent Office searching fees (see here). Australia’s inclusion in various Patent Prosecution Highway pilot programs is further recognition of the quality of its searching and examination. The APO also acts as the International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examination Authority for other respected offices including the Korean, New Zealand and Thai Patent Offices.

The APO presents its search reports in a convenient format that expedites analysis of the search results. The search reports usually report only a handful of the most relevant prior art citations so that they are not lost amongst less relevant citations; the citations are categorised using the familiar ‘A, X & Y’ (etc) designations and typically critical passages and portions of the documents are specifically identified.

Australia is a signatory to the Paris Convention and the PCT, and as such the Australian provisional patent application filed to provide basis for the search could become a convenient starting point for non-Australians, instead of an initial patent application in their home country. Alternatively, the Australian application could be filed in addition to an initial application in the applicant’s home country, in which case care must be taken not to fall afoul of Article 4C(4) of the Paris Convention.