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About IP Australia

Customer Service Charter

Patents' Service Level Committments

Patents - Charter Service Level Commitments

Examination:

Commitment	Target
We are working towards issuing first reports on applications for standard patents within 14 months of receiving the request for examination.	We will aim to achieve this 60% of the time.
We will examine and issue a report on your granted innovation patent, provided you have paid the fee and complied with the formalities, within one month of receiving the request for examination.	We will aim to achieve this 95% of the time.
We will issue an international search report for your application for a patent within nine weeks of receiving the search copy of the international application unless the application is for more than one invention.	We will aim to achieve this 75% of the time.
We will issue an international-type search report for your application for a patent within four weeks of receiving the request for the search, unless the search request covers more than one invention, or we ask you to supply a written search statement.	We will aim to achieve this 75% of the time.
We will respond to correspondence relating to the examination of your application within four weeks of receiving it.	We will aim to achieve this 95% of the time.
We will achieve compliance with all our published Product Quality Standards.	We will aim to achieve this 95% of the time.

*The Patent and Plant Breeder’s Rights Group is working towards raising all targets to the level of 95%. The Group has sought to address the resourcing issues which have contributed to the current performance target levels through a variety of strategies.

Hearings:

Commitment	Target
We will issue our decision within three months of holding a hearing, unless we receive further submissions or evidence.	We will aim to achieve this 95% of the time.

Registration:

Commitment	Target
We will seal your patent within one month after the opposition period has expired, provided no one has opposed the application and any applicable fees have been paid.	We will aim to achieve this 95% of the time.
We will grant your innovation patent, provided you have paid the fee and complied with the formalities, within one month of the application being lodged.	We will aim to achieve this 95% of the time.

View our current response times (opens in new window).

For our current compliance with these commitments, go to our Charter Report.

More Patents statistics are available at our IP Statistics page.