Intellectual Property (IP) protection is a legal framework to enable individuals or organisations to protect new ideas by providing enforceable, exclusive rights to the IP owner. IP-based indicators are used to measure innovative activities and, because they reflect inventive performance, they can contribute to our understanding of innovation and economic growth. The demand for IP protection in Australia broadly reflects the desire by business to create or sell innovative products, or apply innovative processes in the Australian market.
Fast facts
- Demand for patents in Australia has increased since 2000 but due to the global financial crisis has declined by 11.6% since a high in 2007.
- Most of this decline in demand is attributed to foreign (predominantly US) originating applications – Australian organisations’ [1] applications have declined by 5.1% since 2007.
- The number of patents granted in Australia has increased by 14.4% since 2006.
- Australian patent applications made under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) [2] have decreased by 19.6% since a peak in 2007.
- Patents granted to Australians by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have decreased by 6.8% since a high in 2006.
- Patents granted to Australians by the European Patent Office (EPO) have decreased by 29.6% since a high in 2008.
- In Australia, demand for trade marks has increased since 2005, despite a fall since 2007. This reflects the economic conditions more generally because trade marks are the most common form of registered IP in Australia.
- Demand for innovation patents has continually increased in Australia. Australians are more dominant among innovation patent applications (compared with other types of IP protection).
- Currently, in Australia, the top five areas Australians are granted patents in (including innovation patents) are: Civil Engineering, Building and Mining; Consumer Goods and Equipment; Information Technology; Transport; and Handling and Printing.
- For patenting in Australia, with the exception of Information Technology, Australians specialise in these areas relative to the rest of the world, demonstrated by their inclusion in the Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) index [3], along with the areas of Agriculture and Food Machinery, and Space Technology and Weapons.
- For patenting in the U.S., Australians also have a RTA in Handling and Printing; Space Technology and Weapons; and Agriculture and Food Machinery, in addition to the areas of Biotechnology, and Materials and Metallurgy.
Types of IP protection
- Standard patents have to clear a significant hurdle of inventiveness to be valid, while Innovation Patents need to clear a lower hurdle. In addition, innovation patents are cheaper to acquire and do not need to be examined. Countervailing this, innovation patents have a shorter commercial life of a maximum of 8 years (compared with 20 years for a standard patent). The innovation patent was introduced in 2001 to protect lower level inventions that would not meet the inventive threshold required for standard patents.
- Trade marks are the most common form of registered IP. They are relatively cheap to acquire and are popular among small and medium sized firms. Economic analysis shows a consistent relationship between the number of trade marks owned by a firm and its profits. Non-registrable forms of IP such as copyright and trade secrets are, however, more popular forms of innovation protection than trade marks.
- Designs are used most intensively by firms in the Non-Metallic Mineral (that is, glass and clay) Product Manufacturing, and Textile, Clothing, Footwear and Leather Manufacturing industries. Small and medium sized firms apply for more designs per employee than large firms.
- While trade marks and designs represent innovations close to the ready-to-consume end of the value creation process, patents and Plant Breeder’s Rights represent activity closer to the high-end research and development stage.
- Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR) are a relatively new form of IP having been introduced in 1989. While the numbers of applications and grants are small, they can be vital to the profitability of the privatised seed breeding sector.
Domestic IP protection activity
Intellectual Property Protection Application (App.) and Grants in Australia, All countries
|
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Patent App. |
23,889 |
25,549 |
26,808 |
26,599 |
23,706 |
| Patent Grant |
10,979 |
9,426 |
10,594 |
11,792 |
12,383 |
| Innovation Patent App. |
1,076 |
1,096 |
1,241 |
1,268 |
1,328 |
| Innovation Patent Grant |
959 |
1,000 |
1,082 |
1,156 |
1,211 |
| Trade Marks App. (no. of classes) |
92,413 |
101,429 |
107,627 |
107,597 |
99,553 |
| Trade Marks Grant (no. of classes) |
58,165 |
65,568 |
72,142 |
79,737 |
74,770 |
| Designs App. |
5,896 |
5,962 |
5,859 |
6,165 |
5,215 |
| Designs Grant |
5,843 |
7,370 |
5,207 |
6,097 |
5,663 |
| PBR App. |
354 |
364 |
336 |
374 |
363 |
| PBR Grant |
362 |
280 |
196 |
249 |
282 |
- Only one in ten patent applications to IP Australia originate from Australian- based businesses and individuals.
- Patent applications to IP Australia declined sharply in 2009, while the number of patent grants increased (it is possible that this reflects the effects of the global financial crisis and a growth in examination activity).
- Demand for innovation patents appears to have been immune from the global financial crisis.
- There has been a clear decline in trade mark applications in Australia since the peak in 2007 and 2008.
- Designs applications and grants have fluctuated since 2005, decreasing by 15% and 7% respectively between 2008 and 2009.
Intellectual Property Protection Application (App.) and Grants in Australia to Australian applicants
|
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Patent App. |
2,590 |
2,813 |
2,672 |
2,607 |
2,543 |
| Patent Grant |
1,159 |
910 |
1,050 |
900 |
926 |
| Innovation Patent App. |
933 |
935 |
1,042 |
1,034 |
1,120 |
| Innovation Patent Grant |
811 |
841 |
890 |
916 |
1,002 |
| Trade Marks App. (no. of classes) |
58,829 |
63,237 |
66,666 |
65,166 |
63,656 |
| Trade Marks Grant (no. of classes) |
36,960 |
41,680 |
45,855 |
43,962 |
39,792 |
| Designs App. |
2,917 |
2,939 |
2,572 |
2,732 |
2,552 |
| Designs Grant |
2,755 |
3,506 |
2,330 |
2,455 |
2,639 |
| PBR apps |
171 |
171 |
174 |
192 |
186 |
| PBR grants |
158 |
148 |
69 |
133 |
130 |
- Patent applications by Australian entities are a reasonable measure of inventive activity in industries whose activities are well covered by what is deemed ‘patentable subject matter’. Most applications are filed by for-profit companies but, in Australia, a relatively large portion comes from individuals - only about 5-6% are filed by public-sector research organisations.
- Trade mark applications by Australians peaked in 2007, and have declined since.
Top 5 Trade Mark Applications by Australians in Australia by Class (C)*
| Class |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Advert. and Business Mgt. (C35) |
7,888 |
9,345 |
9,896 |
9,404 |
8,833 |
| Instruments (C9) |
7,135 |
8,294 |
9,187 |
8,781 |
8,205 |
| Education/Entertain. (C41) |
6,703 |
7,572 |
8,004 |
7,755 |
7,506 |
| Clothing/Footwear (C25) |
5,972 |
6,054 |
6,191 |
5,580 |
5,488 |
| Scientific Research & misc. (C42) |
4,046 |
5,135 |
5,045 |
5,402 |
4,738 |
* Note: Goods and services are divided into different classes according to Nice International Classification System.
- All 5 categories exhibit declines since their peaks in 2007.
- Advertising and Business Management is the most sought after class of trade marks in Australia.
- Education - which includes the provision of education, training, entertainment, sporting and cultural activities - is the third most popular trade mark area.
- Clothing and Footwear has always been one of the most desired classes of trade mark, and since 2003, demand has remained about steady at between 5-6,000.
Patent Applications by and Grants to Australians in Australia, Top 5 Technology groups*
| Technology Group |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Civil Eng., Building, Mining |
|
|
|
|
|
| Applications: |
563 |
617 |
617 |
591 |
610 |
| Grants: |
191 |
193 |
282 |
303 |
308 |
| Consumer Goods, Equipment |
|
|
|
|
|
| Applications: |
506 |
495 |
509 |
614 |
618 |
| Grants: |
219 |
210 |
258 |
270 |
305 |
| Information Technology |
|
|
|
|
|
| Applications: |
302 |
337 |
397 |
364 |
352 |
| Grants: |
147 |
142 |
200 |
85 |
170 |
| Transport |
|
|
|
|
|
| Applications: |
216 |
251 |
221 |
194 |
247 |
| Grants: |
83 |
115 |
108 |
95 |
133 |
| Handling, Printing |
|
|
|
|
|
| Applications: |
282 |
268 |
238 |
179 |
242 |
| Grants: |
176 |
160 |
146 |
119 |
130 |
*Note: The number of patents granted in a particular year bears little relationship to the number of patent applications in that year (it is likely to be several years before they proceed to grant stage).
- The Top 5 Technology Groups are used to show areas in which Australians produce the highest number of patents.
- It should be kept in mind that many areas of the economy, especially those in the agricultural and services sectors, may be very inventive but do not produce inventions that are ‘patentable subject matter’.
- Australia’s high level of patenting activity in Handling and Printing is primarily due to the efforts of a single specialised company.
- Unlike the number of patent applications originating from all countries, the demand for patents in Australia’s top 5 technology areas by Australians has remained reasonably steady over this reporting period.
Patents Granted to Australians in Australia, Top 5 Technology Groups for Increased Activity
| Technology Group |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Agriculture and food |
48 |
59 |
71 |
72 |
79 |
| Biotechnology |
8 |
16 |
43 |
60 |
38 |
| Basic chemical processing and petrol |
12 |
13 |
27 |
28 |
34 |
| Organic fine chemicals |
13 |
18 |
25 |
19 |
33 |
| Materials and metallurgy |
8 |
18 |
26 |
32 |
27 |
- Based on the number of patents granted, the areas of Biotechnology; Agriculture and Food; Organic Fine Chemicals; Basic Chemical Processing and Petrol; and Materials and Metallurgy were the fastest growing Australian technologies between 2005 and 2009.
- Of the five areas above, Agriculture and Food accounted for the largest absolute growth, and the only group to continually increase between 2005 and 2009.
- This is a completely different composition to the top 5 technologies for increased activity contained in the previous (2008) Scorecard.
Innovation Patents Granted to Australians in Australia, Top 5 Technology Groups
| Technology Group |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Consumer Goods, Equipment |
178 |
162 |
176 |
202 |
210 |
| Civil Eng., Building, Mining |
127 |
131 |
144 |
155 |
169 |
| Information Technology |
71 |
81 |
96 |
118 |
111 |
| Transport |
66 |
86 |
71 |
55 |
87 |
| Handling, Printing |
54 |
53 |
73 |
51 |
75 |
- The technology areas serviced by innovation patents are identical to those served by standard patents, and also the same as that presented in the previous Scorecard indicating considerable stability in the technological strength of these Australian businesses and organisations.
Total Patent Grants in Australia to Australians
Text description for Total Patent Grants in Australia to Australians graph
- The delay between a patent application and its grant (or refusal) can often be several years. Accordingly, patent grant data reflect a combination of past strength of applications, the quality of those applications, and the examination capacity at the patent office.
- Nonetheless, these data reveal that up until 2009 patent grants to Australians has decreased since 2005, albeit with an increase in 2007. Grants to Australians was about 7.5 per cent of all grants in 2009.
Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) [4] for Australians Patenting in Australia
Text description for Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) for Australians Patenting in Australia graph
- The Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) index is used to assess which technologies Australians have a comparative advantage in relative to the rest of the world.
- These areas of RTA have been strong for some years indicating that Australia has developed a core research capacity.
- Australians technological strengths for patenting in Australia are emphasised in that 4 of the Top 5 Technology Groups - Civil Engineering, Building and Mining; Consumer Goods and Equipment; Transport; and Handling and Printing - are also areas where Australians have an RTA. Australia also has an RTA in Agriculture and Food Machinery, and Space Technology and Weapons, neither of which are in the Top 5 Technology Groups.
International IP Protection Activity
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Applications by Australians*
Note: * The number of Triadic patents from the IP Scorecard 2002–2006 cannot be compared with the number of PCT patents, which refer to patent applications. A fraction of PCT applications will eventually become Triadic patents.
Text description for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Applications by Australians graph
- There has been a decline in the absolute number of PCT applications by Australians between 2008 and 2009 (-15%) [5].
- In addition, there was a global decline in world PCT applications between 2008 and 2009. Australian was the 12th largest PCT applicant in 2009 (same position in 2005).
Patents Granted to Australians by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Text description for Patents Granted to Australians by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) graph
- Patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to Australian-resident entities peaked in 2006. There has been an overall decline in patents granted since 2005. This is against the backdrop of an overall decline of patents granted by the USPTO in general: more than 1% decrease per annum since 2006.
- Australian-resident entities represent 0.62 percent of all patents granted by the USPTO in 2009.
- Australia was the 12th largest applicant for patents in 2009 (13th in 2005).
Patents Granted to Australians by the USPTO, Top 5 Technology Groups
| Technology Group |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Handling, Printing |
167 |
332 |
348 |
418 |
331 |
| Information Technology |
49 |
104 |
126 |
119 |
113 |
| Analysis, Measure, Control |
48 |
70 |
87 |
67 |
73 |
| Medical Engineering |
58 |
81 |
62 |
59 |
63 |
| Telecommunications |
42 |
72 |
64 |
67 |
54 |
- Handling and Printing is the biggest technology group by a considerable margin and represents more than 30% of all Australian patents granted by the USPTO. This is largely due to the activity of one company in Sydney.
- The main technology areas in which Australians are acquiring patents in the U.S. has remained largely the same since 2002-2006. Telecommunications entered the Top 5 (was ranked 6th in 2006) and ‘Consumer Goods, Equipment' has left the Top 5 (now ranks 6 th).
- For the sake of comparison, the top 5 technology groups for U.S. firms are Information Technology, Telecommunications, Analysis, Measure, Control, Electrical Devices, and Medical Engineering.
Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) for Australians Patenting at the USPTO
Text description for Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) for Australians Patenting at the USPTO graph
- As with the RTA data from IP Australia, the USPTO data show that Australians have an RTA in the areas of Handling and Printing, Space Technology and Weapons, Agriculture and Food Machinery. This consistency emphasises that Australians’ relative core patenting strengths are in these three areas.
- The UPSTO data indicates that Australians also have RTA in Biotechnology, and Materials and Metallurgy for patenting in the US.
Patents Granted to Australians by the European Patent Office (EPO)
Text description for Patents Granted to Australians by the European Patent Office (EPO) graph
- The overall growth in Australian-resident patents granted at the EPO in the period 2002–2008 ended in 2009 with a sharp decline.
- EPO data confirm what is observed with the PCT and the USPTO indicators for the year 2009: the number of Australian patents at the EPO dramatically declined both in absolute terms and relative to the rest of the world.
- Australians mainly target the US market: Australians are granted 4 times more patents at the USPTO than the EPO. Australian patents represent 0.46% of total patents granted by the EPO.
- Australia was the 17th largest applicant in 2009 (same position in 2005).
Patents Granted to Australians by the EPO, Top 5 Technology Groups
| Technology Group |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Medical Engineering |
36 |
32 |
38 |
45 |
31 |
| Handling, Printing |
25 |
33 |
56 |
47 |
30 |
| Analysis, Measure, Control |
13 |
23 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
| Biotechnology |
11 |
18 |
17 |
24 |
18 |
| Organic Fine Chemicals |
9 |
9 |
8 |
14 |
14 |
- The top 5 technology groups for patents granted to Australians by the EPO differ from that at the USPTO, however Handling and Printing; Medical Engineering; and Analysis, Measure, and Control are all in both Top 5 categories.
- The top 5 has remained largely the same since 2002-2006. ‘Organic Fine Chemicals’ entered the Top 5 and ‘Civil Engineering, Building, Mining’ has left the Top 5 (now ranks 11th).
Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) for Australians Patenting at the EPO
Text description for Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) for Australians Patenting at the EPO graph
- The 5 technologies in which Australia has a RTA at the EPO are the same at the USPTO, however Handling and Printing do not dominate the RTA at the EPO.
- From the EPO perspective, Australian-resident entities specialise in Biotechnology.
- The marked variation in RTA from year to year can be explained by the smaller amount of patents granted by Australians at the EPO.
References
- Australian defined as Australian-resident companies or individuals.
- The PCT is an international patent law treaty that provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions in each of the 100+ contracting jurisdictions.
- Revealed Technological Advantage (RTA) indices indicate the strength of a country in a given technology relative to the rest of the world. A RTA index number of greater than 1 means that Australians patent more intensively in a given technology area than the rest of the world.
- The higher the index, the higher is the patenting intensity. Note that there is a break in the series from the last publication. In this scorecard, the denominator in this series is world applications. In previous scorecards the denominator was world grants. World grants was not available at the time of printing.
- The Triadic patent data is no longer collected so PCT patent data has been included instead. Note that the PCT system simplifies the international filing procedure; it does not provide for the grant of an international patent.
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