Increasing online accessibility at IP Australia

In the context of increasing usage of online services for filing, etc. at IP offices worldwide, this article describes progress at IP Australia in offering such services. A number of patent and trade mark services such as filing, and databases are available, although online filing services for designs and plant breeder’s rights are not yet available. Particular attention is paid to the Trade Mark Assisted Filing Service, which helps customers to determine the potential registrability of a proposed mark. Further attention is paid to improvements to existing patent searching capabilities, including details of a project to build and deliver a new search system for Australian patent data.