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If you think an invention is not patentable, we want to hear from you. You may have information that we need to consider before the patent is granted or certified. Under sections 27 and 28 of the Patents Act 1990 you may provide to the Commissioner of Patents at IP Australia information showing that an invention is not new (novel) or does not involve an inventive (or innovative) step. | |
What do Section 27 and Section 28 allow me to do?
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Section 27 of the Patents Act
allows you to give IP Australia a notice setting out reasons why you think an invention in a standard
patent application is not novel or does not involve an inventive step. To be considered, the reasons
and any supporting documentation must be filed before the date 3 months after a notice of acceptance
of the application is published.
Section 28 allows you to
provide a notice with reasons why an innovation patent is invalid because the invention is not novel or does
not involve an innovative step. The reasons and any supporting documentation must be filed before the innovation
patent is certified.
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What information do I need to provide? | |
If you think the invention in a standard patent application should not be granted a patent or an innovation patent
should not be certified, you can provide your reasons to the Commissioner. Please send the following:
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Does it cost anything? | |
There is no fee to provide this information. | |
What happens to the information I provide? | |
IP Australia lets the patent applicant know that we have received your submission. We also let the
applicant know about the referenced documents. Your submission will be added to the application file,
will be OPI and will be considered during examination or, potentially, at re-examination. The examiner may not agree that the information you provide is relevant or is sufficient to form the basis of a lawful objection. Consequently it may not be referred to by the examiner in their reports. You will also not be given reasons why your information is not considered relevant nor the opportunity to respond to submissions made by the applicant or patentee. If you want to pursue an opposition to an application or patent you can do this separately. |
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Privacy Notice | |
IP Australia values your privacy. We collect your personal information, including your name and address, to enable us to process your submission and to monitor use of this service. Under section 55 of the Patents Act, your submissions and documents received under sections 27 and 28, including any personal information you provide, are Open to Public Inspection (OPI). This means this information is available to the public in hard copy or via our website. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your personal information. | |
I want to make a submission under section 27/ 28: | |
To continue, please click on the following link.
Make a S27/28 Submission This will open your email client so that you may begin preparing your submission. Please note that this link will not be activated if you have a web-enabled email.If this email link is not activated, you can email IP Australia at: MDB_OMW@ipaustralia.gov.au with the email title/subject “Making a Submission under Section 27/28”. Make sure your email contains all the information mentioned above in “What information do I need to provide?”. If you prefer to mail your submission, our address is: IP Australia, PO Box 200, Woden ACT 2606 Australia. Thank you for participating in the patent process. |
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What happens next? | |
As a third party, you cannot be involved in discussions between the examiner and the applicant, even if they relate to your submission. You can however subscribe to our Notification Service to keep track of the patent application. |