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Freedom of Information
Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 1982
Access to IP Australia's documents under the FOI ACT and other legislation
IP Australia provides access to documents under the legislation it administers, principally the Designs Act 2003,
the Patents Act 1990, the Plant Breeder’s Rights Act 1994 and the Trade Marks Act 1995,
and under the FOI Act 1982.
Documents include files, reports, computer printouts, photographs, tape recordings, films, videotapes, CDs and DVDs.
Statement Pursuant to Paragraph 9
The following is the official statement made pursuant to paragraph 9(2)(c)
of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 as at 8 February 2006. The documents
specified in this statement are available to the public for inspection and purchase
from the Department.
 Statement Pursuant to Paragraph 9(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
 Statement Pursuant to Paragraph 9(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Documents held in the Designs Office
Generally
Access to almost all documents held in the Designs Office is governed solely by the Designs Act 2003. Those documents
are not available under the FOI Act.
Before a design in an application is registered or published, the documents relating to the design are not available to the public,
under both the Designs Act and the FOI Act (s61 of the Designs Act, s38 and Schedule 3 to the FOI Act).
Once any design in the application has been registered or published, almost all documents relating to the application are made
available for public inspection (section 60 of the Designs Act), and copies can be purchased from the Designs Office (see contact
details below). Those documents cannot be accessed under the FOI Act (s12 of that Act).
Copies of almost all documents relating to a design registered under the now repealed Designs Act 1906 are available
under section 60 of the new Act, provided the design appeared in the Register of Designs on 16 June 2004. See the contact details below.
Special cases
The applicant or their representative can purchase copies of the documents they filed at any time (e.g. to replace a lost document).
The following documents are not made available for public inspection, and continue to be unavailable under the FOI Act:
- documents that are subject to legal professional privilege (s60(2)(a) of the Designs Act);
- documents that are subject to a prohibition order of a court or tribunal (s60(2)(b) of the Designs Act);
- documents that are required to be produced to the Registrar under paragraph 127(1)(c) of the Designs Act, or which contain
information from such document-but only where the Registrar considers that the document to be produced ,or information in it, should not
be open to public inspection (s60(2)(c) of the Designs Act);
- documents that relate only to designs that originally formed part of the application, but were excluded or withdrawn, or not
registered or published, (s60(4) of the Designs Act).
Document relating to transitional applications (i.e. applications made under
the Designs Act 1906 that haven't been converted to applications under
the new Act), or documents relating to lapsed or refused applications under
the Designs Act 1906 are not made available under section 60 of the
new Act. Those documents may be available under the FOI Act. The FOI contact
listed towards the bottom of this page can advise you on obtaining copies of
those documents. You should note that details of an unpublished design (especially
representations of the design) are likely to be exempt from disclosure as commercially
sensitive under s43 of the FOI Act.
Enquiries about requests for documents under the Designs legislation should
be directed to:
Ms Leanne Mynott,
Manager,
Examination Support & Sales
Phone: (02) 6283 2497
Email: assist@ipaustralia.gov.au
Fax: (02) 6283 7999
Documents held in the Patent Office
Generally
Access to almost all documents held in the Patent Office is governed solely by the Patents Act. Those documents are not
available under the FOI Act.
Before a patent application is made open to public inspection (by advertisement in the Official Journal of Patents),
no documents relating to the application are available under either the Patents legislation or the FOI Act (s56 of the
Patents Act; s38 and Schedule 3 to the FOI Act).
Once an application has become open to public inspection, copies of almost all documents relating to the application (or
any patent granted) are available for purchase (see contact details below). Those documents cannot be accessed under the FOI
Act (s12 of that Act).
Special cases
The applicant or their representative can purchase copies of the documents they filed at any time (e.g. to replace a lost document).
The following documents do not become open to public inspection, and continue to be unavailable under the FOI Act:
- documents that are subject to legal professional privilege (r 4.3(1)(c) of the Patents Regulations);
- documents that are subject to a prohibition order of a court or tribunal (rr4.3(1)(e) and (2)(a) of the Patents Regulations);
- documents that are required to be produced to the Commissioner under paragraph 210(c) of the Patents Act, or which contain information from such document, but only where the Commissioner considers that the document to be produced ,or information in it, should not be open to public inspection (rr4.3(1)(e), (2)(b) and (2)(c) of the Patents Regulations).
A document containing the results of searches provided to the Commissioner under subsection 45(3) of the Patents Act does not
become open to public inspection until acceptance of the application (subsection 55(2) of the Patents Act and r4.3(1)(d) of the
Patents Regulations). If the application is never accepted (i.e. it lapses, is refused or is withdrawn), the search results are
always unavailable under both the Patents legislation and the FOI Act.
Enquiries about requests for documents under the Patents legislation should
be directed to:
Ms Leanne Mynott,
Manager,
Examination Support & Sales
Phone: (02) 6283 2497
Email: assist@ipaustralia.gov.au
Fax: (02) 6283 7999
Documents held in the Plant Breeder's Rights Office
Many of the documents held in the Plant Breeder's Rights Office can be obtained under the FOI Act, although some documents, or parts of documents, may be exempt under that Act on the grounds provided in the FOI legislation. See the FOI contact details towards the bottom of the page.
Copies of two types of documents held by the Registrar can be purchased under
subsection 36(2) of the Plant Breeder's Rights Act 1994 (PBR Act):
- applications for a plant breeder's right (PBR)-including detailed descriptions of plant varieties given in support of the applications; and
- objections lodged in respect of applications for PBR.
You should note that under subsection 36(3) of the PBR Act, you will be unable to obtain the details of the parent varieties used in the breeding program, set out in an application for PBR-unless you are the applicant or the applicant's authorised agent. You can request such details under the FOI Act. However, you should note that details of these varieties are highly likely to be exempt from disclosure under s43(1)(a) of the FOI Act (the exemption for trade secrets).
Enquiries about requests for the two types of documents available under
the PBR Act should be directed to:
Ms Kathryn Dawes-Read
Administrative Officer
Plant Breeder's Rights Office
Phone: (02) 6283 7987
Email: assist@ipaustralia.gov.au
Fax: (02) 6283 7999
Documents held in the Trade Marks Office
Almost all types of documents relating to applications for registration of trade marks can be obtained under the FOI Act, although some documents, or parts of documents, may be exempt under that Act on the grounds provided in the FOI legislation. See the FOI contact details towards the bottom of the page.
In some cases the Trade Marks Office will provide documents outside the provisions of the FOI Act on a fee-for-service basis:
- to an applicant for registration or their attorney-copies of documents filed by the applicant or attorney, documents sent to the applicant or attorney, or a list of applications/registrations belonging to the applicant;
- to other persons-copies of documents that are in the public domain, or which only contain information appearing on the Register of Trade Marks.
Enquiries about requests for documents under the Trade Marks legislation
should be directed to:
Mr Malcolm Lomasney
Manager
Trade Marks Administration
Phone: (02) 6283 2927
Email: assist@ipaustralia.gov.au
Fax: (02) 6283 7999
Procedures for FOI requests
Your rights under the FOI Act:
- to access non-exempt documents containing your personal or business information, no matter how old;
- to access non-exempt documents, no older than 1 December 1977, relating to anything else (they can be older if you need them to understand another document you already have);
- to ask for your personal information to be changed if it is incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading;
- to appeal against a decision not to grant access to a document, or amend or annotate a personal record.
Making a request:
Your FOI request must:
- be in writing;
- provide such information so as to enable identification of the documents
required;
- specify an address in Australia where notices can be sent; and
- be accompanied by the application fee of $30.00.
You should
note that no action will be taken until the application fee has been paid to
IP Australia, or the FOI Co-ordinator decides to remit the fee.
You can make an FOI request in person, by post, by fax, or by e-mail. While using the FOI Request form is not compulsory, it will
assist you to provide the details we need in order to process your request.
Freedom
of Information Request Form
Go to "Making a Payment" to choose your preferred method of payment. Please note you cannot
pay by direct debit for an FOI request. No action will be taken until the application fee has been paid to IP Australia, or the FOI
Coordinator decides to remit the fee.
Processing a request:
We will:
- acknowledge receipt of your request within 14 days of receiving it;
- provide you with an estimate of the charge for processing your request,
and give you an opportunity to contest the imposition and the
amount of the charge;
- (where appropriate) remit fees, or reduce or not impose charges,
where there is good reason to do so; and
- (where appropriate) impose the charge, and collect it before giving
you copies of the documents.
FOI Contact Details
Enquiries about requests under the FOI Act should be directed to:
Melissa Nickols
Information Access Unit
Phone: (02) 6283 2709
Email: FOI@ipaustralia.gov.au
Fax: (02) 6283 7999
All correspondence regarding access to documents under the FOI Act can be
sent by post addressed to:
FOI Coordinator
Information Access Unit
PO Box 200
Woden ACT 2606
Australia
Further Information
If you would like to know more about freedom of information please see the
Attorney-General's site on FOI.
Information about the structure and functions of IP Australia is included in
the Annual Report of
the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. See particularly
the Appendices on Freedom of Information.
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