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ARTICLE · 26 JANUARY 2026

The Australian Innovation Patent – Not Quite Dead Yet!

Madderns
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The Australian innovation patent was introduced in 2001 and was intended to provide a lower cost second tier patent.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Anthony Lee
Anthony Lee
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Take-home Messages

  • An innovation patent provides the same rights and remedies as a standard Australian patent but is subject to a lower inventiveness threshold – making it a potentially effective litigation tool. The innovation patent has a maximum term of eight years and is limited to 5 claims.
  • Although new innovation patent filings ended in 2021, an innovation patent can still be obtained as a divisional of a pending standard patent application having an effective filing date of 25 August 2021 or earlier.
  • If patent enforcement litigation is on the horizon, consider keeping a standard patent application alive for families with an effective filing date of 25 August 2021 or earlier. This preserves the option to file a divisional innovation patent – noting its maximum term is eight years from the effective filing date.

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