In 2017, there were 28,905 standard patent applications in Australia, through either direct patent applications or the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which allows applicants to file a single patent application in multiple countries. This shows a gradual upward trend of about nine percent over the past decade.
However, while patent applications have grown it’s been driven by non-resident filings. Applications for standard patents by Australian residents decreased by about five percent year to year, from 2,630 in 2016 to 2,503 in 2017. Non-resident filings increased by two percent for the same period.
According to IP Australia, standard patent applications originating from the US accounted for much of the rise in non-resident filings. US applicants filed around 46 percent of applications for Australian patents in 2017, an increase in four percent from 2016.
Applications from Japan and Germany increased by one percent and five percent respectively. Applications from China also grew 20 percent, now making it the sixth largest source of patent filings in Australia, behind the US, Japan, Germany, UK and Switzerland.
If patent filings are considered a measure of innovation, this is one race where Australia needs to lift its game.