Changes will be introduced on 1 November 2012 that will see a reduction in some of the official filing and handling fees that apply to international (PCT) patent applications. The new fees (in AUD) are as follows:
| International filing fee | $1,293 | (currently $1,375) (if the application contains 30 pages or less, including the request form) |
| Additional filing fee for each page in the application in excess of 30 | $15 | (currently $16) |
| International Preliminary Examination handling fee | $194 | (currently $207) |
For PCT applications filed in an electronic format (via PCT-EASY or PCT-SAFE), the cost savings will be slightly offset by a reduction in the discounts that currently apply. For instance, where a PCT application is filed electronically via PCT-EASY, the current discount of $102 will be reduced to $97. Where a PCT application is filed electronically via PCT-SAFE, the following changes will apply:
| Discount where electronic filing is in a PDF format | $194 (currently $207) |
| Discount where electronic filing is in an XML format | $292 (currently $310) |
The reduction in fees has come about as a result of the directives adopted by the PCT Assembly at its fortieth session, which introduce new equivalent amounts in AUD for the international filing and handling fees, as a result of currency fluctuations.