How to Apply for a Product Patent in Australia

Applying for a patent in Australia is a difficult process and should be done under the advise of qualified patent advisors or attorneys.

A patent is a legal document providing the person owning the patent with all exclusive rights to profit from her patented item, which must be innovative, useful and novel. For example, if you have invented a new method, recipe or device, your invention may be patentable. However, the patenting process is not trivial - it is sophisticated, complex and almost impossible to succeed at without a thorough understanding of Australian law. In addition, the technical and/or legal requirements for satisfying each step of the Australian patenting process requires extensive professional experience in the submission of patent applications.

Things You'll Need

• Provisional Application Form
• Patent Request Forms (Standard or Innovation Patent Application Form)
• Invention data, documentation and records

Instructions

1. Collect all documentation about the item to be patented. This is the most important part of the patenting process, as it justifies to the patent committee why your item is worth intellectual property rights. Keep highly detailed and extremely accurate notes, including all numerical figures, photographs, video or other forms of data collection. Make sure everything has been dated and cataloged, and keep copies of this.

2. Hire a patent attorney. Check the IP Australia website for a list of approved law firms or lawyers (see References for the link). IP Australia is the principle governmental organization overseeing patents being filed in Australia. Although Australia, like most countries other than the U.S., do not require a patent to be filed solely by a patent attorney, many patents fail simply due to a lack of understanding of the complicated legal process and language by the general layperson. Hiring a patent attorney or agent to advise on these matters will save you both time and money in the end, especially if there is stiff competition and another person is likely to invent a similar item.

3. Complete an application. All forms can be obtained from the IP Australia website. This application will require you to explain in a lot of detail, the patented item's features and specifications, as well as extensive details regarding the item's function and applicability. In addition, you must also describe the type of patent you want, that is, whether you require a standard patent or an innovation patent.

4. File a provisional application. This gives protection over your item or invention for one year, and allows you to search for other similar patents to determine whether a subsequent and more complete patent application will be successful. Together with the provisional form, you must provide a provisional specification, which is a detailed document describing in full the invention, procedure or other item to be patented. This must also show data in the form of drawings (but not photographs).

5. File a complete application. When you are ready, file either a Patent Request (a standard patent) or a Patent Request (innovation patent). Because this is the final patent you will file, you must provide a complete description of the item you are patenting so that any other person can simply read your patent and reproduce your item from what you have written. You must also detail the process for producing the item and state which claim(s) the patent covers.

References

• Baxter IP: Provisional Application
• IP Australia: Patents - The Application Process for your Patent
• ARTS LAW CENTRE OF AUSTRALIA ONLINE: Patents
• Collison & Co : Australian Patent Procedure
• Allens Arthur Robinson Patent & Trademarks Attorneys: patents

Resources

• The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia (IPTA)
• Licensing Executive Society of Australia and New Zealand (LES)