We conducted a consultation on proposals to streamline IP processes and support small business as announced by the Hon Karen Andrews MP. A consultation paper and costings paper were released seeking public input on the proposals until 7 April 2015.

The Government is currently considering the proposals in view of the input received.

Why are we doing this?

Some of the processes for obtaining, maintaining and challenging the four intellectual property (IP) rights are overly complex or do not balance the legitimate interests of all parties. This creates costs for businesses dealing with the IP system, particularly small businesses which face compliance costs disproportionate to their size.

There are a number of administrative processes that differ unnecessarily between the rights. Others are more burdensome than they need to be or take too long to resolve. To address these issues, IP Australia is placing a high priority on aligning and streamlining processes, improving service delivery and reducing unnecessary delays. This will make administration of the system more efficient for users of the system, particularly small businesses, and for IP Australia.

Public consultation paper

The following consultation paper outlined 22 proposals to align and simplify our IP processes, support small business and make some technical fixes relating to the regulation of IP attorneys.

Costings paper

Under the Australian Government’s regulation framework, the costs and benefits to the community of all proposed changes to regulation must be assessed. The following paper outlined the costing framework used and detailed costings for each of the proposals in the Consultation Paper. 

Public submissions

We received the following non-confidential submissions: