When will my patent application be examined?

Mount Ruapehu

We are often asked for status updates on patent applications we are handling in Australia and New Zealand. Last year I ran some numbers on my firm's cases and posted my results. I'm sure the sample size is large enough to be a fair representation of IPONZ records.

I found that 84% of unexamined patent cases had been filed up to 12 months earlier. About 16% of cases were filed between 12 months and 24 months. A negligible number were filed more than 24 months earlier.

Since then it feels like IPONZ has conducted a massive clearance of its inventory. Some numbers I ran recently confirm just that. As at 26 July 2012 approximately 91% of unexamined patent cases had been filed up to 12 months earlier. Approximately 9% of cases were filed between 12 months and 24 months earlier.

Patent examination times

Breaking this down further, just over half (51%) of unexamined patent cases were filed less then 6 months earlier. Approximately 40% were filed between 6 months and 12 months earlier.

I guess the answer to the most commonly asked question is that a New Zealand patent application will probably be examined some time within 12 months of filing. Unless it isn't.

Photo courtesy of author JayVeeAre under Creative Commons licence.