Current trends in IP filings in Australia

The Report shows that in 2025, IP activity in Australia remained strong, and evolved to reflect broader market dynamics. Key takeaways include:

• Participation in the IP rights system is linked with economic benefits for Australian businesses, particularly for early-stage businesses or those in design-focused sectors. For example: 
  • IP Australia used an “event study” framework to show that for Australian firms, a first patent grant is associated with higher income and productivity than those without a granted patent. This aligns with international research which suggests that for start-ups, the grant of a first patent is associated with an increase in the likelihood of securing venture capital funding over the next three years.
  • Securing a registered trade mark has a similar economic impact, with research showing that Australian businesses with a registered trade mark have higher income and productivity than comparable businesses without a registered mark. Trade marks are associated with revenue growth, supporting a stronger market position.
  • For businesses operating in design-intensive industries, securing registered or certified design rights is associated with higher productivity, R&D spend and export volumes. 
• “Soft” IP rights trended up: Trade mark and design applications and registrations all hit record annual highs. 
• Domestic applications trended up, while diversity in international applicants increased: Across all registrable IP rights, Australian application numbers grew compared to 2024 levels, demonstrating robust domestic participation. At the same time, applications are being filed from a more diverse range of countries.
• Portfolio rationalisation with increased focus on direct filing routes: Across different IP rights, international businesses are becoming increasingly selective in their use of the IP system, favouring filing applications in Australia directly, rather than relying on centralised international filing routes. This trend suggests more deliberate and prioritised engagement with Australia as a target market. 
• AI and energy technologies remain hot spots: The impact of the AI and energy transition on applications for IP rights is becoming increasingly apparent. Patent applications in electrical machinery and energy increased by 12.8%, and trade mark applications in scientific and technological services (which encompass AI) grew by more than 23%.

• Patent application numbers decreased slightly between 2024 and 2025; however, IP Australia reports that this is likely a normalisation following the post-pandemic peak in 2021-22. 
• Provisional filings increased by 58.1%, and were filed overwhelmingly by Australian resident applicants. There was also a significant increase in the proportion of provisional applications filed by first-time applicants. Taken together, these trends may reflect:
  • increased use of “digital tools” to facilitate entry into the patent system, including AI tools; and
  • use of provisional applications as a low-cost entry point to establish a position in the patent system for early-stage innovation, while testing possibilities for commercialisation.
• The United States remained the dominant source of patent applications, while China-sourced filings continued to grow, up 13.4% in 2025. Filings from Singapore (up 29%) and Finland (up 20.3%) increased, while filings from Belgium and Spain fell sharply. IP Australia attributed these changes to diverse factors, including “technological competition, portfolio rebalancing, and policy developments in major overseas markets”.
• The share of applications via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) dipped 2.9%, with a corresponding increase in the share of applications filed directly. This shift in filing route choice generally reflects an increased proportion of filings from Chinese and Australian applicants, who tend to file directly.
• Health-related technologies continued to “anchor” patenting activity in Australia, with pharmaceuticals, medical technology and biotechnology collectively representing 33.3% of standard complete patent application filings. This is said to reflect “Australia’s role as an attractive market and source for high-value health innovations”, as well as the globalised nature of pharmaceutical development and portfolio approaches. 
• Energy and transport-related technology filings continued to rise, reflecting ongoing focus on the energy transition, including electrification, EV supply chain and battery technology as well as industrial decarbonisation technologies.
• Computer-implemented technology filings declined by 10.1% in 2025, although IP Australia expects filings in this sector to increase in 2026 following the Full Federal Court’s ruling in Aristocrat Technologies Australia v Commissioner of Patents [2025] FCAFC 131, and the consequent release of updates to the Patent Examiner’s Manual in relation to manner of manufacture.

• Trade mark applications increased in 2025, with clear shifts in nations of origin, filing routes and classes of products/services. 
• IP Australia attributes the growth in trade mark filing, at least in part, on the growth in the digital economy. Many e-commerce platforms have rules requiring sellers to hold a registered or pending trade mark to establish clear brand ownership, which may have contributed to the growth in trade mark filings. 
• In relation to the country of origin of trade mark applications:
  • Australian residents remained the primary source of applications, comprising 57.4% of total applications received in 2025. 
  • Chinese applications made up 14.8% of the total and remained the largest international source of trade mark applications for the second year running, with a marked 20.6% further increase in applications compared with 2024. IP Australia views this as a reflection of increased focus by Chinese businesses on protecting and commercialising their own brands internationally.
  • Australian trade mark applications originated from 138 different countries in 2025 – the most in a decade, reflecting changes in global trade patterns.
• Direct filings increased more rapidly than designations under the Madrid system. IP Australia attributes this trend to the changing origins of trade mark applications – European applicants are more likely to use the Madrid system, while Chinese applicants are more likely to file directly in Australia.
• Trade mark filings in service-related classes (18.5%) increased at almost double the rate of filings in goods-related classes (10.7%). This reflects a broader trend of an increasing share of household spending on services rather than goods. Financial services, construction services, scientific and technological services and advertising and business services all experienced greater than 20% growth in filings in 2025.
• Technology-related classes, including those covering AI products and services, also saw significant growth in applications, consistent with increased domestic investment in AI technology.

• Design applications increased by 7.1% to a new record high, reaching 38% above pre-pandemic levels. Registrations also reached a record high, increasing by 9.9%. IP Australia attributes this upwards trend to the close link between design protection and product introduction and development cycles, as well as continued competitive product differentiation in consumer and industrial markets. It may also reflect (at least in part) the impact of amendments to the Designs Act 2003 (Cth) that came into effect in 2022, which included among other things, the introduction of a 12 month grace period and clarification of the applicable standard for assessing registrability of a design.
• While applications and registrations have increased, certification (a necessary step to enable a registered design to be enforced) dropped slightly, by 1.8%. IP Australia observed that this suggests that “underlying patterns of enforcement have remained consistent”.
• Non-resident application growth was strongest, with the US maintaining the largest overseas share of applications, followed by China, the UK, Switzerland and Hong Kong. 
• Australian resident filings concentrated in tools, hardware, building and construction, while overseas filings centred on household goods and electronics. A number of US multinationals in the consumer product sector were among the most prevalent filers, reflecting the importance of visual differentiation to brand and product positioning, including Yeti Coolers, Skechers USA and SharkNinja.
• Furnishing and transport remain the most popular classes. Furnishing applications have doubled since 2020. Transport design filings have been driven largely by ongoing product development in vehicles, especially in electric vehicles, with corresponding growth in filings for upstream products, including machine parts and battery technology.

In Australia, unlike in other jurisdictions including the United States, there is no requirement to register for copyright. While IP Australia does not have the same amount of data available as for other registrable IP rights, the Report identifies the following key developments:

• The Federal Parliament passed amendments to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) (the Act) on 31 March 2026. These amendments established an orphan works scheme, to provide for the use of copyrighted material where the copyright owner cannot be located or identified; and clarified that provisions of the Act that relate to educational instruction apply uniformly, regardless of whether lessons are conducted in person or online.The Attorney-General’s Department continues in its engagement with key stakeholders regarding the impacts of the development of AI on the community and the economy. In late 2025, the Department prioritised feedback regarding:
  • the use of copyright material in AI, through an examination of licensing arrangements;
  • improved certainty on the application of copyright law to AI-generated material; and
  • the possibility of less costly mechanisms for the enforcement of copyright rights.
• After the release of the IP Australia Report, on 15 July 2026, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outlined the Australian Government’s intended national approach to AI. In relation to copyright and concerns that AI tools could be trained on Australian copyright material without consent, the Prime Minister signalled a clear intention to continue to protect creators’ rights over their creative works. While the Government has reiterated that it will not introduce a text and data mining exception to copyright, the precise framework to be proposed has not yet been announced. 

Read more about Prime Minister Albanese’s announcement of Australia’s National AI Framework here

• Plant breeder’s right (PBR) applications declined for the third consecutive year, to 264 in 2025, with the US remaining the leading overseas filing source.
• Despite a 19.2% decrease in non-resident filings and a 17% increase in resident filings, non-resident filings continue to account for most applications. These sizeable percentage changes are partially reflective of a relatively modest total number of PBR applications.
• Applications from most major overseas nations of origin fell, including the US, UK, Germany, New Zealand and the Netherlands. France was an outlier, filing 5 more applications in 2025 than it did in 2024.
• IP Australia is undertaking a review of Australia’s PBR system, aimed at modernising and improving the PBR system. In 2025, as part of this review, IP Australia released a new version of the PBR Manual of Practice and Procedure. The reform program is otherwise ongoing.