This article was updated on 11 February 2022 to correct errors in some of the filing numbers. I have also published a brief explanation and summary of the most significant changes.
After two years on top of Australian patent filing charts – including a remarkable (by Australian standards) 435 applications in 2020 – Chinese telecommunications manufacturer OPPO dropped back to third position in 2021. Last year’s runner-up, South Korea’s LG Electronics, once again took second place, filing 251 new Australian standard patent applications up from 236 in 2020. China’s Huawei Technologies moved into the top spot, with 255 new applications, up from 229 in 2020. Huawei now owns around 1,300 live Australian patents and applications, which is a significant investment for a company that is effectively barred from the Australian market. It is likely, however, that many of these patents and applications cover standardised mobile and data communications technologies that are implemented across the industry, and which therefore provide Huawei with a substantial stream of licensing income.
The top Australian resident applicant, once again, was electronic gaming system developer Aristocrat Technologies. However, from a peak of 252 applications filed in 2018, Aristocrat’s filings have declined significantly. It filed only 72 new standard patent applications in 2021, falling to equal 25th place in the annual ranking. Over the same period, Aristocrat has been engaged in a Federal Court battle with the Australian Patent Office in an effort to establish the patent-eligibility of many of its gaming-related inventions, recently suffering a setback in the form of a loss on appeal to a Full Bench of the Court.
The leading antipodean applicant is now New Zealand’s Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (which is separate these days from the well-known maker of home appliances). Fisher & Paykel Healthcare filed 130 Australian standard patent applications in 2021, up from 94 the previous year, to take 7th place in the rankings. Ironically, the leading filer of New Zealand patent applications in 2021 was Australian medical device manufacturer Resmed, with 142 filings, while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare appears to have no interest in patent protection in its domestic market. Meanwhile, Resmed followed the opposite trans-Tasman strategy, filing just 28 applications in its home market of Australia.
No other Australian (or New Zealand) applicant appeared in the top 30 filers for 2021. The next highest Australian applicant, after Aristocrat, was the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), with 52 applications, followed by NewSouth Innovations (the University of New South Wales’ commercialisation arm) on 30. The Australian top five was rounded out by Resmed (28) and Breville (27).
The top three filers of provisional applications were CSIRO (56), Resmed (51), and NewSouth Innovations (47).
Innovation patent filings were dominated, in the final few months of full operation of the system, by Chinese and Indian applicants, of which the top two were China’s Qingdao Agricultural University, and the delightfully-named Lovely Professional University in India. The leading ‘credible’ filers of innovation patent applications in 2021 were US-based Calerpillar Inc (31 filings), agricultural chemical developer Imtrade Australia (26 filings), and Australian radio technology company Benelec (14 filings).
Read on for full tables of the leading filers for each application type.
Top Standard Patent Applicants
The table below lists the top 30 applicants for Australian standard patents, from all countries of origin.
| Rank | Applicant Name | Country | Filings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HUAWEI TECH LTD | CN | 255 |
| 2 | LG ELECTRONICS INC | KR | 251 |
| 3 | GUANG DONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMS LTD | CN | 198 |
| 4 | SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE SA | CH | 156 |
| 5 | APPLE INC | US | 152 |
| 6 | CITRIX SYSTEMS INC | US | 147 |
| 7 | FISHER & PAYKEL HEALTHCARE LTD | NZ | 130 |
| 8 | REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS INC | US | 127 |
| 9 | NICOVENTURES TRADING LTD | GB | 122 |
| 10 | BECTON DICKINSON & CO | US | 121 |
| 11 | HALLIBURTON ENERGY SERVICES INC | US | 114 |
| 12 | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA | US | 109 |
| =13 | NOVARTIS AG | CH | 107 |
| =13 | QUALCOMM INC | US | 107 |
| 15 | SENSETIME INTL PTE LTD | SG | 106 |
| 16 | ILLUMINA INC | US | 104 |
| 17 | DEERE & CO | US | 95 |
| 18 | TENCENT AMERICA LLC | US | 89 |
| 19 | AMGEN INC | US | 87 |
| 20 | F HOFFMAN-LA ROCHE AG | CH | 86 |
| 21 | CATERPILLAR INC | US | 83 |
| 22 | COLGATE-PALMOLIVE CO | US | 81 |
| 23 | THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM | US | 76 |
| 24 | WL GORE & ASSOCIATES INC | US | 74 |
| 25 | ARISTOCRAT TECH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | AU | 72 |
| 26 | BASF SE | DE | 69 |
| 27 | GOOGLE INC | US | 67 |
| 28 | US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES | US | 66 |
| =29 | BOEING CO | US | 64 |
| =29 | BAYER AG | DE | 64 |
Leading Australian-Resident Standard Patent Applicants
The following table lists the top Australian applicants for standard patents. Only Aristocrat, on 72 filings, also appears in the previous table of overall leaders. The next Australian entrant, CSIRO, placed equal-46th on the main rankings, along with Electrolux Appliances AB. It is good to see Australian ‘unicorn’ Canva – which managed to achieve a valuation exceeding a billion dollars without much regard for protecting its patentable IP – appearing on this list. Canva has also been expanding its patent portfolio elsewhere, most notably in the US.
| Rank | Australian Applicant Name | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ARISTOCRAT TECH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 72 |
| 2 | COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION (CSIRO) | 52 |
| 3 | NEWSOUTH INNOVATIONS PTY LTD | 30 |
| 4 | RESMED LTD | 28 |
| 5 | BREVILLE PTY LTD | 27 |
| 6 | MONASH UNIVERSITY | 22 |
| 7 | UNIQUEST PTY LTD | 20 |
| 8 | UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY | 19 |
| =9 | UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE | 18 |
| =9 | CANVA PTY LTD | 18 |
| 11 | GRAND PERFORMANCE ONLINE PTY LTD | 17 |
| 12 | SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 15 |
| 13 | TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCES PTY LTD | 14 |
| 14 | CHEP TECH PTY LTD | 12 |
| =15 | XARD GROUP PTY LTD | 10 |
| =15 | AGRICULTURE VICTORIA SERVICES PTY LTD | 10 |
| =15 | GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY | 10 |
| =15 | IP RESERVE PTY LTD | 10 |
| =15 | AUSTRALIAN NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECH ORGANISATION | 10 |
| =15 | CSR BUILDING PRODUCTS LTD | 10 |
| =21 | ADAMA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 9 |
| =21 | ILUKA RESOURCES LTD | 9 |
| =21 | FASTBRICK IP PTY LTD | 9 |
| =21 | COUNCIL OF THE QUEENSLAND INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH | 9 |
| =25 | FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LTD | 8 |
| =25 | UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE | 8 |
| =25 | HITIQ LTD | 8 |
| =25 | WIREMAN PTY LTD | 8 |
| =25 | BHP BILLITON LTD | 8 |
| =30 | NEWCREST MINING LTD | 7 |
| =30 | REDARC TECH PTY LTD | 7 |
| =30 | LA TROBE UNIVERSITY | 7 |
| =30 | SOUTH EASTERN SYDNEY LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT | 7 |
| =30 | BRADKEN RESOURCES PTY LTD | 7 |
| =30 | ALCHIN LONG GROUP IP PTY LTD | 7 |
| =30 | MARK ANDREW FRASER | 7 |
Top Provisional Applicants
The table below lists the top 20 filers of provisional applications in 2021. Almost all provisional applicants are Australian. The only ‘fully’ foreign applicant on the list is New Zealand’s Fonterra Cooperative Group, at equal-20th position. Cloud accounting software provider Xero, placed equal-16th, is also a New Zealand company, but it has a presence in Australia, and has filed its applications as an Australian resident. (Unlike some other patent offices, and the international PCT system administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization, IP Australia’s public data does not separately identify an applicant’s countries of nationality and residence.)
The list includes the usual selection of prolific individual filers. There are a few of these each year (though not always the same ones). Rarely, if ever, do any of their applications proceed beyond the provisional stage.
| Rank | Applicant Name | Country | Filings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATION (CSIRO) | AU | 56 |
| 2 | RESMED LTD | AU | 51 |
| 3 | NEWSOUTH INNOVATIONS PTY LTD | AU | 47 |
| =4 | MONASH UNIVERSITY | AU | 46 |
| =4 | ANTHONY JOHN SCOLARO | AU | 46 |
| 6 | UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY | AU | 34 |
| 7 | UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE | AU | 31 |
| 8 | DOT DESIGN GROUP PTY LTD | AU | 30 |
| 9 | UNIQUEST PTY LTD | AU | 25 |
| 10 | BREVILLE PTY LTD | AU | 20 |
| 11 | UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE | AU | 17 |
| 12 | AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY | AU | 14 |
| =13 | RMIT UNIVERSITY | AU | 13 |
| =13 | SALUDA MEDICAL PTY LTD | AU | 13 |
| =13 | NORMAN L MATTHEWS | AU | 13 |
| =16 | UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA | AU | 12 |
| =16 | WALTER & ELIZA HALL INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH | AU | 12 |
| =16 | XERO LTD | AU | 12 |
| =16 | JULIANNE MARY CRIPPS CLARK | AU | 12 |
| =20 | FONTERRA COOPERATIVE GROUP LTD | NZ | 11 |
| =20 | SOUTH EASTERN SYDNEY LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT | AU | 11 |
Top Innovation Patent Applicants
The following table lists the top 20 applicants for innovation patents. As expected, the list is dominated by Chinese and Indian applicants. I find the number of ostensibly reputable organisations (i.e. universities and research institutes) surprising, although I probably should not. (Yes, the Lovely Professional University is a real place, which claims to be the 36th ranked university in India, based on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022.) At first glance, the only genuine users of the innovation patent system on this list are Caterpillar and Imtrade Australia.
| Rank | Applicant Name | Country | Filings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | QINGDAO AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY | CN | 131 |
| 2 | LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY | IN | 82 |
| =3 | CHINA RAILWAY 18 BUREAU GROUP LTD | CN | 80 |
| =3 | XUZHOU UNIVERSITY OF TECH | CN | 80 |
| 5 | HINDUSTAN INSTITUTE OF TECH & SCIENCE | IN | 55 |
| 6 | SOUTHWEST UNIVERSITY | CN | 45 |
| =7 | PRASUN CHAKRABARTI | IN | 35 |
| =7 | SHANGHAI OCEAN UNIVERSITY | CN | 35 |
| =9 | SHENZHEN THOUSANDSHORES TECH LTD | CN | 33 |
| =9 | QILU UNIVERSITY OF TECH | CN | 33 |
| =9 | QINGDAO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECH | CN | 33 |
| =12 | SICHUAN AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY | CN | 31 |
| =12 | CATERPILLAR INC | US | 31 |
| =14 | WUHAN HUAZHONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECH TES TING TECH LTD | CN | 30 |
| =14 | HUAZHONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECH | CN | 30 |
| =16 | DR VISHWANATH KARAD MIT WORLD PEACE UNIVERSITY | IN | 28 |
| =16 | YESHWANTRAO CHAVAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING | IN | 28 |
| =16 | DATTA MEGHE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES | IN | 28 |
| =19 | VISHWAKARMA INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECH | IN | 26 |
| =19 | MANIPAL UNIVERSITY JAIPUR | IN | 26 |
| =19 | IMTRADE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | AU | 26 |
Leading Australian-Resident Innovation Patent Applicants
The final table below lists the top Australian applicants for innovation patents. Once foreign applicants are filtered out, it is apparent that the main Australian users of the system are the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that it was intended to support. Some of the companies appearing on this list were among those that made or contributed to submissions in support of the innovation patent system when its fate was being debated. It is fitting that they have continued to make use of the system up to the end of its full operation. Some will no doubt continue to file divisional innovation patent applications based upon filings made prior to 26 August 2021 over the coming months and years, although presumably not in the same numbers.
| Rank | Applicant Name | Filings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | IMTRADE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 26 |
| 2 | BENELEC PTY LTD | 14 |
| 3 | NAGARAJU MR DOMMARAJUKRISHNAMARAJU | 13 |
| =4 | TAO HONG | 10 |
| =4 | MOTH DIAGNOSTICS | 10 |
| =6 | KIKO AUTOMATION PTY LTD | 8 |
| =6 | RUI FENG | 8 |
| =6 | GROWPLAY PTY LTD | 8 |
| =6 | LEASEN STEEL INTL PTY LTD | 8 |
| =6 | MARK ANDREW FRASER | 8 |
| =11 | MICROBIAL SCREENING TECH PTY LTD | 7 |
| =11 | DEEPAK SHRIPAT MANE | 7 |
| =11 | SENSEN NETWORKS GROUP PTY LTD | 7 |
| =11 | KEVIN JASON WATSON | 7 |
| =15 | ADAMA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD | 6 |
| =15 | RUDDER TECH PTY LTD | 6 |
| =15 | AME SYSTEMS VIC PTY LTD | 6 |
| =15 | DAVID KAPLAN | 6 |
| =15 | BEN PLAYER | 6 |
| =15 | DATT FINTECH INNOVATIONS PTY LTD | 6 |
| =15 | WEI HONG | 6 |
| =15 | BBOX FOR KIDS DEVELOPMENTS PTY LTD | 6 |
| =15 | GREENTECH INTL PTY LTD | 6 |
| =15 | YUEJING SUN | 6 |
| =15 | SHAWELLE PTY LTD | 6 |
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