The “Australian IP Report” is an annual report published by IP Australia for the past 13 years, and reports on the previous year’s statistics and research on intellectual property rights use in Australia. IP Australia is the Australian Government agency responsible for administering and enforcing the nation’s IP rights systems.

The report provides information and insights to guide policymakers, businesses and innovators in making informed decisions about leveraging and navigating the Australian IP landscape. 

In this article we highlight the key patent filing insights and trends from the IP Report for the life sciences, pharmaceutical and medical device industries in Australia. We also consider them against trends in other major markets. 

Reporting and figures 

In 2024, IP Australia received 30,478 standard patent applications. This was a 3.3% decline in filing compared to 2023 and is in-line with the slight downward trend of filings since 2021. This may reflect broader global pressures on patent activity, highlighting potential shifts in R&D investment strategies.

The IP Report shows that national phase entry from PCT applications remains the dominant filing pathway: there were 21,219 national phase entries and 9,259 direct entries filed in 2024. This highlights the continued reliance of applicants on the PCT system as the preferred route into Australia, underscoring its role in international protection strategies and shaping the country’s overall patent filing landscape.

The life sciences and healthcare sectors continue to dominate the patent landscape in Australia. In 2024, the leading technology classes for standard patent applications in Australia were pharmaceuticals (11.7% of total applications), followed by medical technology (10.7%), biotechnology (10.3%), and organic fine chemistry (5.9%). However, in line with the general trend, pharmaceutical and medical technology filings saw a decline in 2024 compared to 2023, dropping by 9.5% and 11.3% respectively. This shift suggests a potential course correction following the increase in investment in the life sciences and healthcare sectors that occurred in and around the COVID-19 pandemic, but may signal a cooling in these traditionally dominant sectors as a result of diversification of innovation and investment into other technology areas. However, it is notable that the number of biotechnology patent applications in Australia has resisted the decline, which may be underpinned by advances in technologies such as AI-driven automation, real-time sequencing, high throughput screening and CRISPR-based functional screening. 

The majority of patent applications filed in Australia continue to primarily be made by non-residents (91%), although non-resident filings fell by 3.7% in 2024. Applications from Australian residents rose by 0.9% compared to 2023. In 2024, the United States maintained the highest share of total applications despite a slight decline, while China's filings rose, reflecting its growth in technologies such as electric vehicle production. This trend is matched by increased technology-related patent, trademark, and design filings, especially as Australia has become a favourable export destination after the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard was introduced. Filings by Australian companies in China also grew by 8% in 2024, making China the third most popular international filing destination, even amid ongoing concerns about IP protection and enforcement, such as those raised in the 2024 Special 301 Report by the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

The tables below show the share of applications filed in Australia by the top 5 countries and the top 5 international and domestic applicants. Not included in the top 5 international applicants is Amgen Inc., which was 7^th with 113 applications for 2024, many of which involve the use of predictive modelling to control biopharmaceutical processes, reflecting Amgen’s announcement at the end of 2023 that it planned “to use artificial intelligence to help discover and manufacture medicines”, aligning with the broader trend in recent life sciences patent applications.

Top 5 Applicant Countries

Top 5 International and Top 5 Domestic Applicants

Patent office efficiency and innovation 

IP offices around the world have increasingly employed strategies to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the patent examination process. Like its international counterparts, IP Australia gives applicants the option to request that the examination process be sped up. Allowing applicants to control timing of examination allows for commercial assessment of inventions based on industry trends and market opportunities. In 2024, of the patents granted in Australia, over 41% of the applicants had requested substantive examination voluntarily, effectively speeding up the process. The IP Report notes that applicants who chose to do so tended to have better post-grant outcomes than those who waited until they were directed to request examination. 

The European Patent Office (EPO) Annual Review 2024 provides statistics on timeliness of patent examination, recognising that timeliness is important as the examination process “can cause unnecessary costs and uncertainty for competitors and society”. To support the EPO in achieving its efficiency objectives, several systems have been updated to incorporate AI, such as the Digital File Allocation tool, which allocates files to examiners based on technical expertise.

Like the EPO, the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO) prioritises efficiency and quality of patent examination. The 2024 USPTO Agency Financial Report notes that, since the implementation of AI-powered search tools, workflow optimisation has increased for patent examiners, particularly in retrieving foreign patent prior art. It remains to be seen, however, whether the digital innovations at the USPTO will off-set the recently reported budget cuts, hiring freezes and staffing reductions.

Recently, IP Australia announced a pilot program in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and the EPO. The program is intended to explore expanding international filing options for Australian applicants. Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, applicants will be able to select EPO or IPOS as their International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examination Authority. This arrangement allows applicants for Australian patents to access examiner expertise in Singapore.

Conclusion 

The IP Report highlights a shift in general patent filing trends, including a decrease in filings from the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors and an increase in filings from China. The increasing use of AI is becoming evident, not only in the nature of inventions filed, but in the examination and administrative practices adopted by patent offices around the world. The adoption of AI-powered search tools and increasing international partnerships should collectively support the evolution of a more efficient global patent system.