Your reference

Your reference allows you to enter a unique reference of your choice. You can use any combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters.

This reference can be used by you to identify this eServices transaction.

Application number

This is the number of the patent that this request is related to. It is usually a 10 digit number beginning with '20' and you can find it on any correspondence that we have sent to you regarding that patent.

Entitlement

Applicants must have permission (entitlement) from the inventor(s) when requesting examination in eServices. If the applicant is an organisation, they must have entitlement from the inventor (an individual) for the patent.

This statement of entitlement covers your requirements prior to acceptance.

Type of examination

Full Examination

A standard patent can not be granted unless its application has been examined. To have your application examined you must complete an examination request. You have five years from your date of application to request examination or you can be directed to request an examination by the Commissioner of Patents.

Full Examination - expedited

You can request the examination to be expedited. If you chose to do this you will need to provide a reason why.

Accelerated Examination Under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

If you have a US patent application you may be able to request accelerated examination. Find out more information about accelerated examination under the Patent Prosecution Highway.

You can attach one of the following file formats: PDF (.pdf), JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg), TIFF (.tif), PNG (.png), TXT (.txt), DOC (.doc, .docx) or XML (.xml). The file can not exceed 20MB in size.

Re-Examination

Re-examination gives the applicant, patentee or a third party the opportunity to have the commissioner review or re-consider a patent. This is normally done after a patent is granted.

Attach your supporting documentation

You can attach one of the following file formats: PDF (.pdf), JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg), TIFF (.tif), PNG (.png), TXT (.txt), DOC (.doc, .docx) or XML (.xml). The file can not exceed 20MB in size.

Request for Amendment to the Specification in anticipation of an Examiner's Report

If you request an amendment in anticipation of an examiner's report, you are requesting for changes to your specification to be included in your patent application. The changes you request will be added to your case file and considered during the examination process. A fee is not applicable for this amendment type. You will need to attach your amendment details to support your amendment request.

You should consider attaching:

  • a statement of your proposed amendment
  • the pages of the specification that have been "marked-up" and clearly show where the changes are and;
  • a final copy of the pages that include the changes.

You can attach the following file formats: PDF (.pdf), JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg), TIFF (.tif), PNG (.png), TXT (.txt), DOC (.doc, .docx) or XML (.xml). Each file can not exceed 20MB in size. The total file size of all attachments should not exceed 100MB.

Request for Postponement of Acceptance

You can delay the acceptance of your application by an examiner by requesting a postponement of acceptance. If you request postponement, your application will only be accepted once you have withdrawn your postponement request.