The Australian and New Zealand governments have announced a plan to introduce a single patent application process by early 2013 and a single patent examination by June 2014.

Australian minister for innovation senator Kim Carr and the New Zealand commerce minister, Simon Power claim the move is aimed at improving the process for filing a patent by removing duplication, driving efficiencies and reducing costs. “It is the government’s role to encourage innovation, not hinder it with unnecessary administration processes,” senator Carr said. “By moving to align the application processes we will remove duplication and reduce costs. We believe the single pathway to patent protection across Australia and New Zealand will in turn encourage inventors and businesses.”

However patent attorney and partner at Davies Collison Cave Michael Caine disagrees. He claims that there will be little savings to be had by inventors in the two markets since the laws of the two countries will remain different, and each application will need to be prosecuted separately.  “There will be an advantage at the filing stage since only one application will be necessary, but I would expect the [dual] filing fee to be larger than the fee for filing a single application,” said Caine.  “Many Australian firms, and I expect NZ firms as well, already offer reduced rates already when an applicant files an application in both jurisdictions,” he added. 

The ministers claimed savings in professional costs associated with registering a patent could be as high as A$5,000 per invention but Caine is not convinced. “I think the savings have been overestimated substantially,” he said, “particularly since the laws of the two countries will remain different and since each application will need to be prosecuted separately.”