Innovation Month 2025 is here! This year’s theme Risk. Resolve. Results invites conversations about innovating within the lines, embracing risk, and driving meaningful impact. For us, innovation isn’t just a theme — it’s how we work.
We're committed to enabling Australians to benefit from great ideas by providing a world-leading intellectual property (IP) system. Trade, investment and commercialisation all depend on an innovation ecosystem that is modern, effective and efficient and this ensures Australian industry is resilient and internationally competitive.
Our commitment to digital innovation has earned us global recognition as one of the most innovative IP offices worldwide. We’re recognised for our use of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools in trade marks including:
- our TM Checker tool that helps small businesses check if their trade mark is available and decide if it is likely to face issues in examination
- our Trade Mark International Classification Service and Trade Mark Precedent Identification tools which use Natural Language Processing models to make searches and examinations easier, more accurate, and faster.
How are we embracing innovation?
We’re leveraging new technologies and tools like AI and Automated Decision Making (ADM) to enhance the way we work — but we’re doing so carefully. All AI and ADM tools are being used under strict governance policies to ensure they’re used responsibly, ethically, and with human oversight. Our AI Transparency Statement outlines what types of AI we use, how we govern, manage risk and uphold trust in line with Australian Government guidelines.
We currently use tools to help examiners work more efficiently by sorting applications and reducing manual tasks to improve the examination process. This includes using machine learning to:
- sort patent applications into the right technology groups to ensure it’s examined by the relevant teams
- determine which patent applications are likely to be ready for examination
- search global patent databases for relevant prior art based on applicant and inventor details
- identify and prioritise foreign examination reports from related international applications
- identify substantially identical trade marks through a Register searching tool
- assist in classification by suggesting possible matches for trade mark goods and services that don’t match our picklist.
Our use of AI and ADM tools support our highly trained staff, making the examination process faster and more accurate.
Where are we going now?
Building on our work to-date, and aligned to our Innovation Framework, we’re actively exploring further opportunities to safely use AI to further enhance our service delivery and improve efficiency.
We've tested how AI can support our trade mark examiners through smarter report writing and drafting, and will continue to consider other ways AI can assist with trade mark examination.
We’re also developing a proof-of-concept AI tool to help patent examiners navigate large amounts of information. The tool assists in ranking, comparing, and identifying documents most relevant to their application, and offers quick summaries of key information. If adopted, this would help examiners make informed decisions faster.
More broadly, we are using Copilot for Microsoft 365 to assist staff across the agency find efficiencies in low-value, administrative tasks.
With a focus on tools designed to support, not replace, human judgement, we’re excited to continue to pilot and test new approaches and explore how technology can improve the way we work.
Interested in learning more about how the IP system supports innovation?
Read our research on patent timing in the Australian IP Report 2025