Australian IP report 2025
Design applications, registrations and certifications
Applications for design rights grew by 8.9% from 2023 to 2024, to a new record level (9,583). This growth builds on an 11.8% increase in 2023 with filings now 33.6% higher than the 2020 low which followed a period of low filings growth (Figure 4.1).
Design registrations increased by 10.7% on their 2023 level, to a record level of 8,854, following 2 years of consecutive growth.
IP Australia certified 1,474 designs in 2024, a 4.3% decline on the previous year. Despite the decline, certifications were still at the second highest level recorded due to a 24.1% increase in 2023.
Figure 4.1 Design applications, registrations and certifications in Australia, 2012 to 2024
Origins of design applications
Resident and non-resident applications
Application growth was consistent across filings from residents and non-residents, by 8.6% (to 2,885) for residents and by 9.0% (to 6,698) for non-residents.
The 8.6% increase in resident design filings in 2024 followed a sharp 24.4% increase in 2023. These figures represent a correction from the long-term decline in resident application observed from 2018 to 2022 (see Figure 4.2).
Figure 4.2 - Resident and non-resident design applications, 2015 to 2024
Overseas locations of origin
As Figure 4.3 shows, the leading overseas origins for design filings in 2024 were the United States (US residents were named on 1,940 applications), China (1,567), the United Kingdom (403), Hong Kong (338), and Switzerland (239).
Figure 4.3 Leading locations of origin for design filings in 2024, and high-volume locations with the greatest relative growth or decline in 20241
Filings from China grew by 65.5% and are now 4 times greater than the number of applications filed in 2019. In contrast, filings from the US fell for the second consecutive year, by 8.1% in 2024, from their peak level in 2022.
Filings from major European countries experienced a sharp decline, with design applications from Switzerland down by 35.4%, filings from Germany down by 20.5%, and filings from the Netherlands down by 47.7%. This downturn likely represents a return to usual filing levels following strong growth from each of those origins in 2023. Both Switzerland and Netherlands remain above their 2022 filing counts.
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- High volume locations are defined as classes above the mean for total applications received in 2023.