We conduct a review of our fees every 4 years, with the last one occurring in the 2019/20 financial year. Reviewing our fees forms part of our commitment to ensure cost recovery arrangements are in line with the Australian Government Charging Framework.
Initial public consultation on our fees and fee structure opened on 24 May 2023 and feedback was accepted until 2 July 2023. All submissions were considered and workshopped by business representatives from across IP Australia to determine each suggestion’s practicality and effect. While not every submission can result in an immediate change to fees, some may feed into our longer-term strategy or be included for further consideration in a future fee review.
All proposed fee changes have now been included in the draft Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS). The CRIS provides information on how we implement cost recovery in the administration of patents, trade marks, design rights and plant breeder’s rights legislation, as well as the administration of the Trans-Tasman IP Attorneys system.
In addition to this, we used the fee review process to also reconsider the costs that could be awarded in patents, trade marks or design rights proceedings.
We now invite your feedback on our draft CRIS and Costs Awarded. You can do this through our public consultation page until Sunday 21 January 2024.
Once the review and consideration of final feedback has been completed, it's anticipated that any fee changes approved by Government will take effect in October 2024.