Expansion of the patent box scheme in Australia

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Expansion of the patent box scheme in Australia

Sponsored by

fbrice-400px.png
barley-field-1684052-1280.jpg

Lee Miles of FB Rice discusses Australia’s patent box scheme which is set to introduce the agricultural and low emissions technology sectors

Originally designed to encourage home-grown innovation in the biotech and medical technology sectors, the Australian government announced in its 2022–23 Federal Budget the intention to expand the patent box scheme to include the agricultural and low emissions technology sectors.

Once operational (noting that the scheme is yet to pass through Parliament a year after it was initially unveiled), the patent box will enable companies operating in the agricultural and low emissions technology sectors to access a concessional tax rate of 17% (down from 30% for large businesses and 25% for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for profits generated from eligible patents and plant breeders rights (PBRs) within Australia.

For the agricultural space, eligible patents will be those covering “practical, technology-focused innovations”, examples of which may include agricultural and veterinary products listed on the Public Chemicals Registration Information System (PubCRIS) register administered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA). Pleasingly, the government has also expanded the patent box to include PBR for new plant varieties.

For the low emissions technology sector, patents covering technologies which reduce emissions will be eligible. This arguably covers multiple industry sectors.

In another development, the budget announced that patents issued by the USPTO and EPO will also qualify for the scheme going forward, whereas previously only Australian patents were eligible. 

In this regard, the budget paper noted that this expansion “will remove regulatory barriers to accessing the patent box regime for Australian developed innovations patented in the major overseas jurisdictions with equivalent patent regimes”. Given the importance of the US and European markets to most patenting strategies, this is another welcome development.

For biotech and medical technologies, the patent box scheme is set to commence on July 1 2022 and will apply to eligible patents granted after May 11 2021. For the agricultural and low emission technology sectors, the scheme is set to commence on July 1 2023 and will cover patents or PBRs granted after March 29 2022.

 

Lee Miles

Senior associate, FB Rice

E: lmiles@fbrice.com.au

 

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

IP leaders at Brandsmiths and Bird & Bird, who were on opposing sides at the UK Supreme Court in Iconix v Dream Pairs, unpick the landmark case and its ramifications
Magdalena Bonde discusses Abion’s AI experiments and reveals why an entrepreneurial mindset and a willingness to learn about a business are essential skills
Partner Ginevra Righini explains how she secured victory for the Comité Champagne in its fight against an EUTM application for ‘Nero Champagne’
Volkan Hamamcıoğlu joins us for our ‘Five minutes with’ series to discuss meditation, tackling deadlines, and taking inspiration from Hamlet
A $110 million US verdict against Apple and an appellate order staying a $39 million trademark infringement finding against Amazon were also among the top talking points
Attorneys are watching how AI affects trademark registrations and whether a SCOTUS ruling from last year will have broader free speech implications
Patent lawyers explain why they will be keeping an eye on the implications of a pharma case and on changes at the USPTO in the second half of 2025
The insensitive reaction to a UK politician crying on TV proves we have a long way to go before we can say we are tackling workplace wellbeing
Adrian Percer says he was impressed by the firm’s work on billion-dollar cases as well as its culture
In our latest interview with women IP leaders, Catherine Bonner at Murgitroyd discusses technology, training, and teaching
Gift this article