Resident and non-resident filings: domestic activity strengthens
Trade marks remain broadly anchored in Australian business activity. Australian residents filed 55,913 applications in 2025, comprising 57.4% of total applications received that year. Resident applications were up by 15.1% on their level in 2024, surpassing the previous peak in 2021.
This exceeds the growth in non-resident filings. Non-resident filings increased by 10.9% in 2025, and account for 42.6% of total applications (Figure 3.2).These aggregate figures exclude a number of filings in 2025 identified as associated with fraudulent accounts.
Figure 3.2
Trade mark applications in Australia by domicile, 2016 to 2025
Trade mark activity aligns closely with business formation1 and changes in domestic demand. In 2025, Australia's business entry rate (the number of new businesses relative to the number of businesses in the economy) remained relatively steady at 16.4%, with no significant changes amongst the most trade mark intensive industries. Nevertheless, the number of business entries remains elevated following a surge during the COVID-19 pandemic.2
Household spending growth in Australia accelerated in 2025, driven by rising costs and increased spending in volume terms. In particular, household spending on services increased by 6.7%, compared with 3.1% for goods.3 Mirroring these trends, filings in service-related trade mark classes increased by 18.5%, compared to 10.7% in goods-related classes. This follows 3 years of service class decline, over a period when services inflation remained high.
Unlike patents, where resident filings reflect activity by a relatively narrow R&D-intensive cohort, trade marks capture participation across a wide cross-section of firms. The strength of resident growth suggests sustained domestic competitive intensity.
Locations of origin: China drives growth as other sources rebound
China remained the largest foreign origin, with Chinese applicants named on 14.8% of total filings in 2025. Having overtaken the United States in 2024 as the leading overseas origin for trade mark filings in Australia, applications from China again surged in 2025. Trade mark applications naming Chinese residents increased by 20.6% on their 2024 level. This follows 2 years of growth over 40%, and despite the moderate slowdown, still ranks as the strongest growth among leading origins.
The US, UK, Germany and New Zealand all saw filings rebound after several years of decline, with growth between 4 and 10%.
Figure 3.3
Leading overseas locations of origin for trade mark filings in 2025, and high-volume locations with the greatest relative growth or decline in 2025 4
Australia received trade mark applications from 138 unique source locations in 2025, the most locations recorded in over a decade. This development may reflect shifting trade patterns, as economies seek to diversify their markets and reroute exports in response to trade tensions.
Beyond the lead origins, 2025 saw strong relative growth in applications from Turkey (+41.1% to 237 filings), Singapore (+25.3% to 803 filings), Ireland (+23.2% to 281 filings) and India (+19.0% to 400 filings).
Endnotes
- See S Lyalkov, M Carmona, E Congregado, E Millán and JM Millán, Trademarks and their association with Kirznerian entrepreneurs, Industry and Innovation, 27(1–2), 1–10, 2019.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, (Jul2021-Jun2025), Counts of Australian businesses, including entries and exits, ABS Website, accessed 14 April 2026.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, (February 2026), Monthly Household Spending Indicator, ABS Website, accessed 14 April 2026.
- High volume locations are defined as those above the mean for total applications received in 2023.