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Commonwealth legislation
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
The 1909 regulations are the administrative rulebook implementing Australia’s Patents Acts, turning broad statutes into practical requirements for filing, examination, record‑keeping, fees, and professional conduct.
They govern how inventors, businesses and patent attorneys must prepare and prosecute applications, set fees and procedures, and establish formal registration and oversight for patent agents—making the patent system operable and consistent across the Commonwealth.
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Direct links to the current provisions in The Patents Regulations, 1909.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
STATUTORY RULES.
1909. No. 96.
REGULATIONS UNDER THE PATENTS ACT 1903 AND THE PATENTS ACT 1906.
I, THE Governor-General in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, do hereby make the following Regulations under the Patents Act 1903, and the Patents Act 1906, to come into operation forthwith.
Such Regulations to supersede the Provisional Regulations (Statutory Rules 1909, No. 2, and Statutory Rules 1909, No. 19) made under the said Acts on the 8th day of January, 1909, and the 9th day of February, 1909, respectively.
Dated this 5th day of August, One thousand nine hundred and nine.
DUDLEY,
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
R. W. BEST,
Minister of State for Trade and Customs.
SHORT TITLE.
Short title.
1. These Regulations may be cited as “The Patents Regulations, 1909.”
INTERPRETATION.
2. In these Regulations—
Interpretation.
“The Act” means the Patents Act 1903, as amended by the Patents Act 1906.
“Justice of the Peace” means a Justice of the Peace of the Commonwealth, or part of the Commonwealth, or of a State or part of a State.
“The Official Journal” means the Australian Official Journal of Patents.
“Foreign application” means an application by a person for the protection of his invention in the United Kingdom, or the Isle of Man, or in any British Possession or Foreign State to which all or any of the provisions of section 121 with or without variations or additions are for the time being applicable.
FEES.
Fees.
3.—(1.) The fees to be paid under the Act and these Regulations shall be those specified in the First Schedule, and shall be paid in cash at the Patent Office. All remittances sent by post shall be by money order, postal note, or bank draft, and shall be made payable to the Commissioner of Patents.
(2.) Where any fee is payable in respect of any act or document, the Commissioner may refuse to permit or perform the act, or to receive or issue the document, as the case requires, until the fee payable is paid.
(3.) The prescribed fee for preparation of the patent for sealing shall be paid within the time allowed for the sealing of the patent, and if such fee be not paid no patent shall be sealed.
FORMS.
Second Schedule.
4. The forms contained in the Second Schedule may, as far as they are applicable, be used in any proceeding under the Act or these Regulations to which they are appropriate.
HOURS OF BUSINESS.
Hours of Business.
5. Except in the case of holidays observed under the Commonwealth Public Service Act 1902, the Patent Office shall be open to the public on week days (other than Saturdays) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon.
APPLICATIONS.
Manner of lodging applications.
6. Every application for a patent must be left at or sent to the Patent Office, and may be sent by prepaid letter through the post, and must in every case be accompanied by the prescribed fee.
Manner of recording applications.
7.—(1.) Every application for a patent left at the Patent Office shall be numbered in the order of its receipt.
(2.) Every application for a patent sent by prepaid letter through the post shall, as far as practicable, be opened and numbered in the order in which the letter containing it was delivered at the Patent Office.
Address for service.
8. Every application for a patent shall be accompanied by a statement of an address for service to which all notices, requisitions, and communications of every kind may be sent by the Commissioner. The address for service shall be within the Commonwealth, and, if the Commissioner so requires, in or near to the city in which the Patent Office is situate.
Signature of applicant and witness.
9. Every application for a patent must be signed by all the applicants, each of whose signatures must be attested by a witness.
Application by body corporate.
10. An application for a patent by a body corporate shall be signed or executed in such a manner as to bind the corporation, and shall be signed by some person who shall be personally responsible for the truth of the statements therein contained.
Application for separate patent by way of amendment.
11.—(1.) Where the applicant for a patent includes in his specification more than one invention, he may, before acceptance of the application, or after refusal to accept the application on the ground that the specification includes more than one invention, amend his complete specification so as to include one invention only, and make application for a separate patent for each of the other inventions.
(2.) Every such new application shall, if the applicant notify his desire to that effect to the Commissioner, bear the date of the original application, and shall, together therewith, be proceeded with in the manner prescribed as if it had been originally made on that date.
Extension of time for leaving complete specifications.
12. Every application for an extension of time for lodging a complete specification shall be made in the Form C2 in the Second Schedule, and shall state in detail the circumstances in and grounds upon which the extension is applied for, and the Commissioner may require the applicant to substantiate his statements by such proof as the Commissioner thinks necessary.
Claims.
13. The statement of the invention claimed, with which a complete specification must end, shall be clear and succinct as well as separate and distinct from the body of the specification.
Time limit for acceptance of complete specification.
14. Every complete specification must be accepted within twelve months from the date of application, or within such extended period, not exceeding three months, as the Commissioner, on application and on payment of the prescribed fee, allows.
Notice that application is ready for acceptance.
15.—(1.) When a complete specification is ready for acceptance, the Commissioner shall notify the applicant accordingly, and require him to pay the acceptance fee.
(2.) Upon the payment of the acceptance fee the Commissioner shall advertise the acceptance in the Official Journal.
(3.) If the acceptance fee be not paid within the time limited for the acceptance of the specification, the application shall be deemed to have been abandoned.
Inspection of specification.
16. After the advertisement of acceptance, the application and specification, with the drawings (if any), may be inspected at the Patent Office upon payment of the prescribed fee.
Refusal by Commissioner to accept.
17. When the Commissioner refuses to accept an application accompanied by either a provisional or a complete specification, he shall notify the refusal to the applicant, and such notification may be in the Form F in the Second Schedule.
Advertisement of other proceedings.
18. All advertisements, notices, or documents, which by the Act or by these Regulations are required to be published, shall be advertised in the Official Journal.
Extension of time for sealing.
19. Where the Commissioner has allowed an extension of time for the acceptance of a complete specification, he may allow an extension, for the same period, of the time for the sealing of the patent.
APPLICATIONS UNDER SECTION 7 OF THE ACT.
Application under sec. 7.
20. An application made under section 7 of the Act may be in the Form A8 or A9 in the Second Schedule.
Production of State patent.
21. The Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, direct that the State patent be produced for his inspection.
State specifications to accompany application.
22. The application must be signed by the applicant and attested by a witness, and, in addition to the specifications left therewith, be accompanied by a copy of the complete specification and drawings upon which the State patent was granted.
Amendment subsequent to grant of State patent.
23. The applicant must state whether any amendment has been made in any document subsequent to the grant of the patent in the State, and the reason for, and the nature of, the amendment.
A 2
Amendments and objections to State patents.
24. If a patent for the invention has been refused in any State or States, the applicant, when lodging his application, must state in writing the ground of the refusal. If any objection has been raised to the acceptance of his application in any State or States, he shall, when lodging his application, state in writing the nature of the objections, and the grounds upon which they were overcome.
Renewal fee.
25. The time for payment of the prescribed renewal fee on an application under section 7 of the Act shall be reckoned as from the date of the application.
Further proceedings.
26. Save as aforesaid, all proceedings in connexion with an application under section 7 shall be taken within the times and in the manner prescribed for ordinary applications.
APPLICATION FOR ADDITIONAL PATENT.
Application for additional patent.
27. An application for an additional patent in respect of an improvement on an invention may be in the Form A7.
Application to be signed by applicant.
28. The application shall be signed by the applicant in the presence of a witness.
Renewal fee.
29. The time for payment of the prescribed renewal fee on an additional patent shall be reckoned as from the date of the additional patent.
Further proceedings.
30. Save as aforesaid, all proceedings in connexion with an application for an additional patent shall be taken within the times and in the manner prescribed for ordinary applications.
APPLICATIONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL AND INTERCOLONIAL ARRANGEMENTS.
Form and requirements of application.
31. An application for a patent under International or Intercolonial arrangements may be in the Form A6 in the Second Schedule, and must be made within twelve months from the date of the first foreign application, and must be accompanied by a complete specification, and be signed by the person or persons by whom the first foreign application was made. If that person, or any of those persons, be dead, the application must be signed by his or their legal representative, as well as by the other applicants, if any.
Foreign specification, &c., to accompany application.
32.—(1.) In addition to the specification left with the application, a copy or copies of the specification or specifications and drawings, or documents corresponding thereto, filed or deposited by the applicant in the Patent Office of the Foreign State or British Possession in respect of the first foreign application, duly certified by the official chief or head of the Patent Office of the Foreign State or British Possession as aforesaid, or otherwise verified to the satisfaction of the Commissioner, must be left at the Patent Office at the same time as the application, or within such further time thereafter, not exceeding three months, as the Commissioner may allow. If any specification or other document is in a foreign language, a translation thereof shall be annexed thereto, and verified by declaration or otherwise to the satisfaction of the Commissioner.
(2.) An application for extension of time for leaving the copy or copies of the foreign specification or specifications, drawings or documents, may be made in the Form C4, and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.
Public inspection.
33. If the complete specification left with the application be not accepted within twelve months from the date of the first foreign application, it shall be open to public inspection at the expiration of that period.
Proceedings.
34. Save as aforesaid and as provided by Regulation 113, all proceedings in connexion with an application under International or Intercolonial arrangements shall be taken within the times and in the manner prescribed by the Act or these Regulations for ordinary applications.
SIZE, ETC., OF DOCUMENTS.
Size of documents.
35. Subject to any directions given by the Commissioner, all documents and copies of documents sent to or left at the Patent Office, or furnished to the Commissioner or to the Court or the Law Officer, shall be written or printed in the English language on tough white paper of good quality, not thinner than 300 sheets to the inch. The sheets shall be 13 inches by 8 inches, with a margin of not less than 2 inches at the left side, and one-half inch elsewhere.
Specifications.
36. The top half of the first sheet of specifications shall be left blank, and the writing or printing shall be on one side only. The contents shall be written or printed in carbonaceous or other permanent ink, not liable to be affected by bleaching agents. If written, the writing shall be large and legible, not more than ten letters per inch, and with not more than two line spaces per inch. If printed, the type shall not be less than pica, and there shall not be more than three line spaces per inch. The date and the signature shall be on the last sheet, which shall, in the case of the complete specification, also contain the conclusion of the claims, and, in the case of the provisional specification, the conclusion of the description of the nature of the invention.
Signatures.
37. The signatures to all documents must be written in full in a large and legible hand.
Copies of provisional specifications.
38.—(1.) A copy of every provisional specification shall be lodged at the Patent Office at the same time as the original.
Copies of complete specifications.
(2.) Six copies of every complete specification shall be lodged at the Patent Office at the same time as the original.
(3.) Copies of every provisional or complete specification shall be certified to be true copies, and shall be signed by the applicant or his agent.
Copies of other documents.
39. Copies of all other documents required by the Commissioner shall be left as directed by him.
SIZES AND METHODS OF PREPARING DRAWINGS ACCOMPANYING PROVISIONAL OR COMPLETE SPECIFICATIONS.
Drawings.
40.—(1.) The provisional or complete specification need not be accompanied by drawings if the specification sufficiently describes the invention without them; but if drawings are furnished they should accompany the provisional or complete specification to which they refer, unless the applicant desires to adopt the drawings lodged with the provisional specification as the drawings for the complete specification, when they must be referred to as those “left with the provisional specification.”
(2.) The drawings must show every feature of the invention covered by the specification.
(3.) When the invention consists of an improvement upon an old machine, the drawing must exhibit the invention disconnected from the old structure, and also, in another view, the specific improvement and such parts of the old structure as necessarily co-operate with it. When the drawings illustrate an invention for which an additional patent is sought under section 85 of the Act, the improved or varied portions shall be drawn in full black lines, and so much of the original invention as may be necessary to show the connexion or action shall be repeated and shown in dotted outlines in proper relation to the improved part.
(4.) Drawings must be delivered at the Patent Office either flat or on rollers, so as to be free from creases, folds, or breaks.
Requirements as to paper, &c.
41. Drawings must be made on pure white tough drawing paper, not thinner than 100 sheets to the inch, of smooth surface and good quality, and without colour or Indian ink washes.
Size of drawings.
42. Drawings must be on sheets 13 inches at the sides by 8 inches at the top and bottom. The illustrations shall be inside a border rectangle 12 inches by 7 inches, leaving a margin half-an-inch wide. When an exceptionally large drawing is essential, it may be drawn in sections on several detached sheets. There is no limit to the number of sheets. The figures should be numbered consecutivel
This is an opening excerpt, not the complete document.