Act change to improve refund power for Trade marks and PBR

While the Patents Regulations 1991 and Designs Regulations 2004 permit the refund of the whole application fee or part of it on the basis of a wide range of circumstances, the Trade Marks Regulations 1995 and Plant Breeder Rights Regulations 1994 only allow a refund of fees in narrowly prescribed circumstances. This results in a reduction in IP Australia's financial management flexibility. Under this issue, IP Australia would investigate appropriate legislative changes to align Trade Marks and PBR refund provisions with Designs and Patents.