IP Australia Proposes Patent Fee Increase
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 IP Australia Increases Patent Fee |
| On 29 June 2010 the Australian government approved increased in patent fees. The fees will come into effect from 1 August 2010. Total patent fee revenue for the financial year July 2010 to June 2011 will rise by 6.8%. Individual fee changes will vary, with not all fees being increased. One new fee has been introduced. A fee of AU$100 will be payable for each additional “excess” claim introduced into a patent application after acceptance for patent grant. An “excess” claim is any claim over twenty (20) at the time of acceptance. This fee is in response to a practice of deleting excess claims during examination in order to minimise the acceptance fee, and then reinserting those claims after acceptance. The fee will be charged at the time the Patent Office allows the excess claims. There are significant fee increases for patent renewals from the 11th year. Details of the fee increases are available on request. Trade Mark and Design fees are not being changed. |
