A practice manual for Australian patent renewal fees. The rules are relatively simple and the relief available for a missed deadline is generous by international standards. The failures that actually occur in practice come from elsewhere: two competing conventions for numbering the instalments, which produce a one-year offset, and the back-end budget of cases carrying a pharmaceutical term extension.
1. At a glance
- System type
- Annual renewal fees
- Anchor date
- Filing date Parent filing date for divisionals
- Due date rule
- The anniversary date itself
- Payment period
- 4th to 19th anniversary Same axis while the application is pending
- Grace period
- 6 months AUD 100 per month, part months rounded up
- Restoration
- s223 extension of time No absolute cut-off — generous internationally
- Reduction
- None
- Term
- Filing date + 20 years 20th-24th anniversary added on pharmaceutical extension
- Risk level
- Normal
2. Anchor date and due-date calculation
The anchor is the filing date and the fee falls due on the anniversary itself. Divisionals are calculated from the parent filing date. Before grant the payment is called a continuation fee and after grant a renewal fee, but it is one axis: grant does not change the schedule.
Worked example
For an application filed on 2020-06-15 the due dates are as follows.
| Instalment | Formula | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| 4th anniversary | Filing + 4 years | 2024-06-15 |
| 5th anniversary | Filing + 5 years | 2025-06-15 |
| 6th anniversary | Filing + 6 years | 2026-06-15 |
| … | Same each year | … |
| 19th anniversary | Filing + 19 years | 2039-06-15 |
The term expires on 2040-06-15 (filing date + 20 years). For an ordinary case the final payment is at the 19th anniversary, so the patent then runs for a further year with no payment. Where a pharmaceutical extension is granted, additional payments arise from the 20th to the 24th anniversary.
3. When payments begin
- Fees begin at the 4th anniversary. There is nothing to pay for the first three.
- They are payable while the application is pending; a long examination does not stop the clock.
- Only the name changes at grant — the axis is single. Do not rebuild the schedule when the patent is granted.
- Divisionals run from the parent filing date, so several years' fees may already be due at the moment of division.
4. Grace period and surcharge
There is a six-month grace period with a surcharge of AUD 100 per month. Importantly, part months are rounded up: a single day late attracts that month's AUD 100.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Grace period | 6 months from the due date |
| Surcharge | AUD 100 per month, part months rounded up |
| Maximum surcharge | AUD 600 over six months |
5. Lapse and restoration
Australian relief is generous by international standards. An extension of time under s223 is available for error or omission, with no absolute cut-off on when it may be requested.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Basis | Patents Act s223 — extension of time |
| Grounds | Error or omission, among others |
| Absolute cut-off | None |
| Extensions beyond 3 months | Advertised and open to third-party opposition |
| Third-party protection | Available |
6. Reduction
Australia has no renewal fee reduction. There is no discount by entity size or type, so do not build one into estimates.
7. Early and bulk payment
Payment is on an annual basis only. There is no multi-year bulk payment.
8. Official fees
Amounts below are as at 2024-10-01 (AUD). Because the scale rises steeply towards the end of the term, it is worth obtaining maintenance decisions early.
| Anniversary | AUD | Anniversary | AUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4th | 300 | 12th | 780 |
| 5th | 315 | 13th | 945 |
| 6th | 345 | 14th | 1,140 |
| 7th | 380 | 15th | 1,385 |
| 8th | 420 | 16th | 1,675 |
| 9th | 465 | 17th | 2,010 |
| 10th | 540 | 18th | 2,390 |
| 11th | 645 | 19th | 2,815 (to be confirmed) |
9. Term extension — the back-end budget changes
Australia allows an extension of term of up to five years for a pharmaceutical substance per se (Patents Act s70). Where granted, the term runs up to 25 years and additional renewal fees arise from the 20th to the 24th anniversary.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Basis | Patents Act s70 |
| Scope | Pharmaceutical substance per se |
| Maximum extension | 5 years (25 years total) |
| Effect on renewals | Additional fees at the 20th to 24th anniversary |
| Rates | 24th anniversary AUD 8,000 (to be confirmed); final unextended year AUD 2,650 (to be confirmed) |
10. Management checklist
Fields to populate first
- Filing date, or the parent filing date for a divisional. Every Australian deadline is calculated from it.
- Whether instalment numbering has been standardised on the anniversary axis. A stray 'year N' label shifts the schedule by a year.
- For pharmaceutical cases, whether an extension of term has been applied for, which determines whether the 20th-24th anniversary rows exist.
- Whether the case is a divisional and when it was divided, since several years' fees can fall due at once immediately afterwards.
Payment cycle
- Set the deadline on the anniversary and confirm maintenance instructions with the client.
- From the 15th anniversary onward the amounts climb steeply, so obtain maintenance decisions earlier for the back end.
- For cases in the grace period, round the elapsed months up and add the surcharge in AUD 100 units.
- For extended cases, cost and communicate the final five years separately before the 20th anniversary.
Easily confused points
- The pre-grant continuation fee and the post-grant renewal fee differ only in name; do not create a new schedule at grant.
- The surcharge accrues by rounded-up month, not pro rata. One day late costs a full month.
- The absence of an absolute cut-off for extensions does not make the grace period safe — beyond three months, advertisement and opposition follow.
- Rates in the extended band are not a continuation of the ordinary curve.
Sources, cut-off date and disclaimer
This manual is based on iphere's August 2026 survey of country-by-country overseas maintenance rules, together with values produced by the deadline engine that runs on those same rules. Official fees and deadline rules change by office notice, so please confirm against the official source and your local agent before any actual payment or filing.