The number of self-filed standard patent applications has also increased, being 82% higher in the first 10 months of 2025 compared with the previous five years’ average. However, the number of standard patent filings by self-represented applicants remains a small proportion of the total – just 2.6% of all applications filed up until the end of October – and so the significance and impact of this increase remains to be seen.
The only plausible explanation I can think of for this sudden jump in filings by self-represented applicants after years of relative stability in numbers is the increasingly widespread and affordable availability of generative AI. What is not yet apparent is how applicants are using AI. Are they using ChatGPT and similar tools to assist in drafting patent specifications describing inventions made wholly by human inventors? Or are they also using AI to facilitate invention itself?
Either way, I fear that this will not end well for many of these self-filers. To be clear, there is absolutely no question that AI tools based on large language models (LLMs) can be used to assist in drafting patent specifications. In the hands of an experienced patent professional who understands the invention to be protected, the full legal requirements for protection, and the various national and international drafting principles, even a general-purpose tool such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, or Google’s Gemini can accelerate the process of preparing a quality patent specification. But there are also many potential pitfalls to using these tools, and they do not embody the significant expertise, skill and experience of a competent patent professional. And if the AI is also contributing to the invention, then there may be nothing that is legally protectable at all!
The good news for Australian patent attorneys is that the increase in DIY (with AI) provisional applications has not been accompanied by a corresponding decrease in applicants engaging professional assistance. The number of provisional applications filed via registered attorneys and firms for the first 10 months of 2025 is down by just 3.2% on the past five years’ average. And while this does reflect an ongoing decline over recent years, it indicates that the use of AI may be bringing new users to the patent system, rather than taking work from professional advisors.
