Fee Review Update
10 May 2012
Further to the news article on 9 December 2011, the Australian Government has now approved within the context of its 2012 Budget changes to fees charged for IP Australia's products and services.
Some of the key changes that customers should note include:
- The majority of fee changes will occur on 1 July 2012, with the exception of new application filing fees which will change from 1 October 2012.
- Incentives for customers to use the Approved Means of transaction. Read more information about Approved Means. Customers that file in this way will benefit through a lower relative fee.
- The introduction of a fourth year continuation/renewal fee which will apply to all patent applications whose fourth anniversary falls on or after 1 July 2012. Therefore the new fee will apply to patent applications filed on or after 1 July 2008 or any granted patent with a Date of Patent on or after 1 July 2008. As the fourth year continuation/renewal fee is a new fee under the legislation it cannot be paid before 1 July 2012. If the fee is paid before this date it will be refunded and the payment will need to be made after 1 July 2012.
Please note:
- In June 2011 the Government introduced into Parliament the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Bill 2011 which will result in the introduction of a new preliminary search and opinion service for patents. This service and its associated fee will come into effect on 15 April 2013.
- In line with IP Australia's commitment to quality and to ensure consistency between the searches provided to our customers throughout the patent process, the Office will align the current 15(5) product with the new preliminary search and opinion service. As of 1 July 2012, the new 15(5) product will also have an opinion issued with the search results similar to the International Search and Opinion (ISR/ISO). This will provide our customers with the benefit of additional information regarding their inventions.
Customers are advised to familiarise themselves with the new fee structures in order to avoid payment discrepancies and delays in the processing of their IP Rights.
The new fee structures can be found here:
If you require any further information please contact us.
Read the news article on IP Australia Fee Review 2011: Consultation Paper from 9 December 2011.
Last Updated: 15/9/2012
