Electronic business rules

In keeping with the Electronic Transaction Act 1999, we provide you the option of using electronic communications when engaging with us. You are encouraged to submit service requests and make payments using our approved means – online services.

Payment of fees and charges

Most online services requests require payment at the time of filing using a Visa or MasterCard. We have appropriate security and handling mechanisms in place to protect your credit card details.

A Payment Options Form must be included when using the Emergency Fax Service Please note that this form must not be attached when using online services (a payment service is available using the 'My Payments' option). Declined credit cards do not constitute payment.

Payments options form.

If during processing of your application the fee items used in the calculation are found to be incorrect, the fee payable is recalculated using the correct fee items. This may result in a letter of notification being sent (underpayments) or refund processed (overpayments).

For submissions using our online services

The date and time of receipt of a service request submitted using an IP Australia online service online services) is the date and time in Canberra (Australian Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings Time) when the entirety of the service request (and any attachments) has entered IP Australia's information system.  Users should note that this may be different from the date and time in their location.

Any attachment to an electronic service request is not considered received by IP Australia until the entirety of the service request (and any attachment) has entered IP Australia's information system. 

The date and time of receipt of the attachment is the date and time of receipt of the service request (determined as above).

General requirements

• File attachments must be limited to 20MB in size. 

• PDF attachments must be compatible to at least Adobe Acrobat v5.0 (PDF 1.4) to ensure general accessibility. Note we prefer the use of our online fillable PDF forms where possible.

• The minimum resolution of an image is 200 dots per inch (dpi), the maximum resolution of an image is 600 dots per inch (dpi), with the recommended resolution as 300 dpi.

Please ensure there are no spaces in the image file name.

For more detailed file information for each of the different rights see image requirements (LINK).

Lodgment on weekends or public holidays

If you have payment or correspondence due on a weekend or public holiday, you have until the next business day to file. We publish approved public holidays each year in our official notices.

Digital Rights Management

We do not accept file attachments which make use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) file policy settings. Policy settings are used in some file formats to (among other things) limit copying, printing or the duration of readability of the file. If detected, files containing policy settings may be rejected by IP Australia and you may be asked to re-submit a policy-free version of the file.

Electronic service requests – available methods

Trade marks

This table shows the ways that we can receive requests for trade marks.

Trade marks	Online services	B2B	Emergency Fax	Email
TM Headstart request / Add class(es) fee / Part 2 fee / new representation fee	yes	no	no	no
TM Headstart amendments	yes	no	no	no
TM Headstart general correspondence	yes	no	no	yes
All standard national trade mark applications	yes	yes	yes	no
All international  trade mark applications	yes	no	no	no
All other trade mark service requests (except requests related to international trade mark applications)	yes	yes	yes	no
All service requests related to international trade mark applications	Lodged directly with WIPO

Patents

This table shows the ways that we can receive requests for patents.

Patents	Online services	B2B	Emergency Fax	Email	ePCT
All national patent applications	yes	yes	yes	no	no
All patent service requests	yes	yes	yes	no	no
All international patent applications	yes	yes	yes	no	yes

Plant breeder's rights

This table shows the ways that we can receive requests for plant breeder’s rights.

Plant Breeder's Rights	Online services	B2B	Emergency Fax	Email
All Plant Breeder's Rights applications and service requests	yes	yes	yes	no
Qualified Persons Annual Renewal	yes	yes	yes	no

Designs

This table lists the ways that we can receive requests for Designs.

Designs	Online services	B2B	Emergency Fax	Email
All design applications and service requests	yes	yes	yes	no

Freedom of information (FOI)

FOI	eServices	B2B	Emergency Fax	Email
FOI Request	yes	yes	yes	yes

General

General	eServices	B2B	Emergency Fax	Email
General enquiries	yes	yes	yes
Making a complaint or suggestion	yes	yes	yes

 

Sending electronic physical media

We accept physical media (CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD or DVD-R) for certain transactions. Physical media identified for an eServices request must be accompanied by the physical media coversheet that can be printed from within the eServices official receipt after submission. Each physical medium must be enclosed in a hard case and accompanied by a transmittal letter on paper. The transmittal letter must list:

• the machine format (e.g. IBM-PC, Macintosh)

• the operating system compatibility (e.g. MS-DOS, MS-Windows)

• a list of the files contained on the physical medium including their names, sizes in bytes and dates of creation.

  Please note USB devices are not an approved form for filing physical media.

  Physical media submitted to IP Australia will not be returned to you. Your physical media must be physically labeled with the following information:

• the name of the sender;

• the name of the invention (patents only);

• any relevant reference number;

• creation date of the physical media;

• the order of media if the document extends over multiple media; and

• an indication of copy of submission if more than one copy is filed (eg. Copy 1 or Copy 2).

  Any amendment to the information must be sent on a replacement physical medium containing the original text and incorporating the amended information.

Filing evidence in oppositions

Filing evidence for trade marks and patents oppositions proceedings needs to be done electronically via a computer application called Objective Connect. Guides for how to use this application are listed below: