IPA patent 5.3.2-formal-requirements-of-the-specification — IP Australia Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure – 5.3.2 Formal requirements of the specification

Also in this Chapter: 5.3.1 Formalities Checking 5.3.3 Approved Forms (including patent request) 5.3.4 Signature Requirements for Forms and Other Documents 5.3.5 Return or Deletion of Document Sub-chapters: 5.3.2.1 Title of the application 5.3.2.2 Abstracts 5.3.2.3 Requirements for text, pagination, formulas, equations, and drawings 5.3.2.4 Substitute pages to comply with formalities 5.3.2.5 Requirements for amino acid and nucleotide sequences 5.3.2.6 Scandalous matter Key Legislation: Patents Act: s229 Instrument determining formalities requirements for patent documents Patents Regulations: Schedule 3 (superseded) Formal requirements for documents to be filed Non-legislative Instruments: Formalities Determination 2019 (Superseded) Formalities Determination 2022 Filing date determines the requirements Standard/Innovation patent applications filed; PCT applications entered national phase; or Requests to Amend filed: Before 24 th February 2019 , the requirements are those set out in Schedule 3 of the Patents Regulations ; or On or after 24 February 2019 and before 1 July 2022 , the requirements are those set out in Formalities Determination 2019 ; or On or after 1 July 2022, the requirements are those set out in Formalities Determination 2022 . Substantial rather than strict compliance Strict compliance with the formalities requirements for specifications is not required. There is no need to raise an objection if the documents substantially comply.