Victorian Genealogy
Finding People and Places in Victoria, Australia.
A patent is a legally enforceable right for a device, substance, method or process. For an application to be successful, an invention must be new, useful and inventive or innovative. Currently in Australia a standard patent lasts 20 years. An innovation patent lasts eight years. A pharmaceutical patent lasts 25 years. A provisional application lasts 12 months.
Before 1854 inventors had to apply to England for patent registration and protection. Victoria proclaimed its first Patent Act in 1854, with the length of the grant being for 14 years. Jurisdiction for patents was transferred to the federal government in 1904.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - PATENT RECORDS HELD IN CANBERRA
The following is Fact Sheet 265 from the National Archives of Australia.
https://www.naa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/fs-265-patent-records-held-in-canberra.pdf
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - VICTORIAN PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION 1854-1904 (A13151) AND VICTORIAN PATENT APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION 1857-1904 (A13149)
Applications for registration of Victorian patents and provisional patents are searchable through the catalogue on the National Archives of Australia website. Some of these have been digitized.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - VICTORIAN PROVISIONAL PATENT SPECIFICATIONS 1854-1904 (A13152) AND VICTORIAN PATENT SPECIFICATIONS 1857-1904 (A13150)
Specifications of Victorian patents and provisional patents are searchable through the catalogue on the National Archives of Australia website. Some of these have been digitized.
VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT GAZETTE - VICTORIAN PATENT REGISTRATIONS 1854-1904
Victorian patent registrations were listed in Victorian Government Gazettes from 1854 to 1904. See Victorian Government Gazettes.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - PATENT RECORDS HELD IN CANBERRA
The following is Fact Sheet 265 from the National Archives of Australia.
https://www.naa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/fs-265-patent-records-held-in-canberra.pdf
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN APPLICATIONS FOR PATENTS 1904-PRESENT (A627)
Applications for patents are searchable through the catalogue on the National Archives of Australia website. Some of these have been digitized.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN SPECIFICATIONS OF INVENTIONS 1904-PRESENT (A13882)
Specifications of inventions are searchable through the catalogue on the National Archives of Australia website; they are searchable by invention not by name.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN PATENT FILES 1937-PRESENT (A661)
Patent files are searchable through the catalogue on the National Archives of Australia website. Some of these have been digitized.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN INVENTIONS CORRESPONDENCE FILES 1939-1946 (MP76/1)
Inventions correspondence files are searchable through the catalogue on the National Archives of Australia website. Some of these have been digitized.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - DRAWINGS OF AUSTRALIAN INVENTIONS 1939-1945 (MP100/1)
Drawings of inventions are searchable through the catalogue on the National Archives of Australia website; they are searchable by invention not by name. Some of these have been digitized.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - VOLUMES OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF INVENTIONS 1939-1945 (MP100/3)
Volumes of photographs of inventions are held at the National Archives of Australia, Canberra Office. The volumes are not online.
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT GAZETTE - AUSTRALIAN PATENT ADVERTISEMENTS 1904- PRESENT
Australian patents were sometimes advertised for sale or licence in Australian Government Gazettes from 1904 to the present. See Commonwealth Government Gazettes.
IP AUSTRALIA - PATENT REGISTER
This includes patents from 1904. For patents registered between 1904 and 1920 it is only searchable by application number.
https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/
ANCESTRY - INTERNATIONAL PATENT RECORDS, 1890-2020
This collection contains a registry of international patents.
https://www.ancestry.com.au/search/collections/62216/
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA - ARMY INVENTIONS DIRECTORATE, 1942-1946
The following is Fact Sheet 199 from the National Archives of Australia.
https://www.naa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/fs-199-army-inventions-directorate.pdf
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