Country/Region: Australia
Competent Authority: IP Australia
Official Website: https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au
Eligible Applicants: Australian enterprises; foreign enterprises; individual applicants;
*Foreign applicants are generally required to submit applications through a local agent.
Classification System: Australia uses the Nice Classification (45 classes in total); multi-class applications are permitted.
Required Application Materials:
Generally, the following information is required:
Trademark representation (image);
Applicant's name and address;
Classes of goods or services;
Registration Timeline: Approximately 7–9 months to complete registration.
Validity Period: 10 years (calculated from the date of registration); renewable every 10 years, with no limit on the number of renewals.
Planning to Protect Your Invention Abroad? Join WIPO's Free PCT Training for Innovators Across Tamil Nadu
WIPO and the Tamil Nadu Technology Hub (iTNT) will hold a free online training on the Patent Cooperation Treaty and related WIPO initiatives on October 22-23, 2026, WIPO announced on October 6. Aimed at deep-tech startups, entrepreneurs and researchers across Tamil Nadu's innovation ecosystem, the program covers international filing strategy, a live ePCT demonstration, PATENTSCOPE searching, WIPO GREEN and IP commercialization.
Current Account Becomes WIPO Wallet
WIPO announced on October 5, 2026 that its Current Account payment service is now WIPO Wallet, a single payment method for all WIPO services. Users can pay online, receive immediate payment confirmation, monitor balances and transactions, and set customized alerts. Opening a wallet requires an initial deposit of CHF 200 and at least four transactions a year; existing Current Account holders keep the same number, credentials and balance with no setup required.
UPC Unfiltered, by Willem Hoyng - UPC Decisions Week 40, 2026
In his weekly commentary published October 5, 2026, Professor Willem Hoyng reviews the Unified Patent Court's latest decisions, including a Court of Appeal order refunding 2,940 euros in appeal fees to NVIDIA after payment errors and confirming that appeal fees follow the first-instance value of litigation, paired rulings on reinstating conditional counterclaim appeals, a dispute over the language of public access requests, and the settlement between NovaCloud and Amazon.
USPTO Waives the Petition Fee for the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program
The USPTO announced on October 6, 2026 that it is waiving the petition fee under 37 CFR 1.17(h) for requests to make special under its Streamlined Claim Set pilot program. The pilot offers an earlier first office action for pending non-continuing applications with no more than one independent claim and ten total claims. Requests on Form PTO/SB/472 are accepted until October 27, 2026, or until each Technology Center accepts about 200 petitions.
Chinese Tech Firm Wins Complete Victory in US Patent Litigation
Jiaxing-based Gongjing Technology has defeated Japan's Kaneka Corporation in a nearly three-year US patent dispute, with the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York invalidating claims 5 and 15 of US Patent 7,829,080 on reduced coenzyme Q10. The ruling clears IP barriers for the company's CrysQnol product in the US market and is seen as a model for Chinese innovators defending overseas rights.
UPC Unfiltered, by Willem Hoyng – UPC Decisions Week 39, 2026
Willem Hoyng's week-39 UPC roundup, published September 28, 2026, is dominated by Meta's settlement wave: three withdrawn cases (Huawei, NovaCloud and ETRI v Meta) each ended with 50% court-fee refunds, with NovaCloud's failed bid for 60% reviving debate over the Court of Appeal's new refund rule for pre-2026 filings. Also covered: Sidel v Omnia on competence and late opt-outs, KEEEX v Adobe's 6.6-billion-euro case valuation, and Maxell v Samsung's invalidity ruling.
Senate IP Subcommittee Focuses on Fee-Setting, PTAB Rule in USPTO Oversight Hearing
At a September 29, 2026 Senate IP Subcommittee oversight hearing — Chairman Thom Tillis's last — USPTO Director John Squires reported the patent backlog fell to a three-year low of 756,110, said the controversial PTAB institution rule now sits at OMB after more than 11,000 comments, and confirmed he is considering keeping discretionary denial authority while returning merits decisions to PTAB panels. Renewal of the agency's fee-setting authority, expiring December 12, dominated questioning.
Fuzhou Releases 15th Five-Year Plan for IP Protection and Utilization, Targeting an IP-Strong City by 2030
Fuzhou has released its 15th Five-Year Plan for IP Protection and Utilization, Legal Daily reported on September 29, 2026, targeting initial status as an IP-strong city by 2030. The plan sets seven indicators — including 18.9 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people, 492,000 valid trademarks, 16 billion yuan in cumulative IP pledge financing and an 85.2-point protection satisfaction score — structured in seven chapters and ten key projects spanning the full IP chain.
IPOS Update on IP/IT Dispute Resolution in Singapore: August-September 2026
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore released its August-September 2026 update on IP and IT dispute resolution on September 21, 2026, as listed on Singapore Law Watch, the Singapore Academy of Law portal. The regular bulletin from IPOS's Hearings and Mediation Department covers recent Singapore court and IPOS decisions, featured articles, events and other developments in IP/IT dispute resolution during August and September 2026.
Latest Trends in Australian Intellectual Property Applications
China's official IPR protection portal on September 22, 2026 summarized IP Australia's Australian IP Report 2026: trademark and design filings hit record highs, provisional patent applications jumped 58.1%, AI- and energy-related filings surged, and direct filings gained over international routes. The report also tracks the Copyright Act amendment passed March 31, 2026 creating an orphan-works scheme, and Canberra's July 2026 AI policy stance rejecting a text-and-data-mining exception.
UPC Unfiltered, by Willem Hoyng – UPC Decisions Week 38, 2026
Willem Hoyng's week-38 UPC roundup, published September 21, 2026, puts court fees in focus: the Court of Appeal's Dainese v Motocard order confirming an appeal is inadmissible if court fees remain unpaid 14 days after the Registry's reminder; settled Ericsson SEP cases in Mannheim and Paris that returned only 40% and 35% of court fees; and AMMS v Gilead, holding that an appeal does not automatically suspend an 800,000-euro cost order.
USPTO's 'Tiger Team' Joins WIPO's Global IP Assignment Platform Pilot Program
The USPTO announced on September 21, 2026 that it will participate in WIPO's Global IP Assignment Platform (GIPAP) pilot program, a centralized, standard platform for filing and tracking IP assignments. A cross-functional tiger team co-led by Deputy Commissioner for Patents Robin Evans and Chief Policy Officer Mary Critharis reviewed WIPO's feasibility study and prototype before the agency joined Phase 2, which will develop and validate end-to-end workflows with a representative set of IP office