Innovation

Dynamic economy that shares prosperity

Release date and time

15/09/2025 11:30am AEST

Released 15/09/2025

Metric

Number of patent and trade mark applications in Australia (made by both domestic and overseas applicants)

Why this matters

If the Australian economy is to keep on delivering the improved living standards and prosperity needed, innovation is key.

Innovation is a complex concept to measure. One way to track progress is the rate at which inventive activity occurs, represented through the number of filings for patents and trade marks.

This measure captures a fairly limited aspect of Australia’s innovation but provides useful insights on the innovation and introduction of new products and services that can improve the lives of Australians.

Progress

Patents

In 2024, the number of patent applications was 3.3% lower than in 2023. This was comprised of:

an increase of 0.9% in the number of applications by Australian residents, to 2,578
a decrease of 3.7% in the number of applications by non-residents, to 27,900.

Compared to 20 years prior (2004), the number of patent applications in 2024 was:

1.1% lower for patents by Australian residents
38% higher for patents by non-residents.

Number of patent applications in Australia (made by both domestic and overseas applicants)
	Total	Australian residents	Non-residents
2004	22,845	2,606	20,239
2005	23,887	2,611	21,276
2006	25,552	2,830	22,722
2007	26,805	2,697	24,108
2008	26,598	2,626	23,972
2009	23,706	2,551	21,155
2010	24,904	2,451	22,453
2011	25,565	2,439	23,126
2012	26,468	2,685	23,783
2013	29,779	3,124	26,655
2014	26,033	2,027	24,006
2015	28,700	2,343	26,357
2016	28,476	2,674	25,802
2017	28,990	2,568	26,422
2018	29,979	2,782	27,197
2019	29,788	2,671	27,117
2020	29,302	2,402	26,900
2021	32,409	2,996	29,413
2022	32,292	2,496	29,796
2023	31,530	2,555	28,975
2024	30,478	2,578	27,900

Number of patent applications in Australia (made by both domestic and overseas applicants)

["","Total","Australian residents","Non-residents"]

[["2004","2005","2006","2007","2008","2009","2010","2011","2012","2013","2014","2015","2016","2017","2018","2019","2020","2021","2022","2023","2024"],[[22845],[23887],[25552],[26805],[26598],[23706],[24904],[25565],[26468],[29779],[26033],[28700],[28476],[28990],[29979],[29788],[29302],[32409],[32292],[31530],[30478]],[[2606],[2611],[2830],[2697],[2626],[2551],[2451],[2439],[2685],[3124],[2027],[2343],[2674],[2568],[2782],[2671],[2402],[2996],[2496],[2555],[2578]],[[20239],[21276],[22722],[24108],[23972],[21155],[22453],[23126],[23783],[26655],[24006],[26357],[25802],[26422],[27197],[27117],[26900],[29413],[29796],[28975],[27900]]]

[]

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Data Source

IP Australia Australian IP Report 2025

Trade marks

In 2024, the number of trade mark applications was 2.8% higher than in 2023. This was comprised of:

a decrease of 0.9% in the number of applications by Australian residents, to 48,582
an increase of 8.2% in the number of applications by non-residents, to 37,363.

Compared to 20 years prior (2004), the number of trademark applications in 2024 was:

31% higher for trade marks by Australian residents
141% higher for trade marks by non-residents.

Number of trade mark applications in Australia (made by both domestic and overseas applicants)
	Total	Australian residents	Non-residents
2004	52,673	37,186	15,487
2005	56,438	38,602	17,836
2006	60,497	40,504	19,993
2007	61,005	39,964	21,041
2008	59,270	38,357	20,913
2009	56,605	38,485	18,120
2010	59,304	39,633	19,671
2011	61,594	40,123	21,471
2012	62,772	41,198	21,574
2013	62,979	39,671	23,306
2014	64,452	41,682	22,770
2015	73,213	47,052	26,161
2016	71,377	47,028	24,349
2017	76,621	46,357	30,264
2018	77,485	45,944	31,541
2019	75,653	44,258	31,395
2020	81,715	51,663	30,052
2021	88,744	53,346	35,398
2022	78,838	44,648	34,190
2023	83,577	49,031	34,546
2024	85,945	48,582	37,363

Number of trade mark applications in Australia (made by both domestic and overseas applicants)

["","Total","Australian residents","Non-residents"]

[["2004","2005","2006","2007","2008","2009","2010","2011","2012","2013","2014","2015","2016","2017","2018","2019","2020","2021","2022","2023","2024"],[[52673],[56438],[60497],[61005],[59270],[56605],[59304],[61594],[62772],[62979],[64452],[73213],[71377],[76621],[77485],[75653],[81715],[88744],[78838],[83577],[85945]],[[37186],[38602],[40504],[39964],[38357],[38485],[39633],[40123],[41198],[39671],[41682],[47052],[47028],[46357],[45944],[44258],[51663],[53346],[44648],[49031],[48582]],[[15487],[17836],[19993],[21041],[20913],[18120],[19671],[21471],[21574],[23306],[22770],[26161],[24349],[30264],[31541],[31395],[30052],[35398],[34190],[34546],[37363]]]

[]

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Data Source

IP Australia Australian IP Report 2025