Innovators can directly file for patents with intellectual property (IP) offices in the countries and regions where they seek protection. Alternatively, they can file an international application through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Taking IP global
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) offers an alternative pathway for seeking patent protection in Australia. Instead of filing separate national or regional applications, applicants can submit a single international application under the PCT.
The system provides additional time to assess the commercial potential of an invention and determine the most relevant markets before committing to national filings. Applicants have up to 31 months from the priority date to enter the Australian national phase. The priority date establishes the benchmark for assessing prior art and determining the invention’s novelty and inventive step.
In 2025, 66.7% of standard applications entered Australian national phase under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), down from 69.6% in 2024 (–2.9 percentage points). Direct filings increased correspondingly, from 30.4% to 33.3% of all standard applications.
In absolute terms, PCT national phase entries fell by 980 applications, while direct filings increased by 841 applications over the same period. As total filings declined only marginally, this indicates a substantive shift in filing route rather than a volume effect.
Figure 2.4
Standard patent applications in Australia by filing route, 2016 to 2025
The increase in direct filings partly reflects shifts in the composition of filing countries; that is, a relative decline in filings from US applicants – for whom PCT use is prevalent – alongside stronger activity from Australian and Chinese applicants, who tend to file direct.