IP Australia updated section 5.6.10.1 of its Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure, "Requirements to Claim Divisional Status", on 2 November 2026. The stated reason is a clarification of wording on who can apply for a divisional application. Only the examination guidance changed: the Patents Act 1990 is untouched, and no new group of applicants has become eligible.
Only the opening sentences changed
Compared with the previous version of 5 August 2024, the single edit sits at the start of the "Applicant and Inventors" paragraph.
The old text said the divisional applicant must be the same as the parent applicant, with applicant including a person entitled to request under section 113. The new text says a divisional may only be made by the applicant of the parent application, and spells out that section 113 covers persons entitled under an assignment or agreement, or by operation of law. The rest of the paragraph is unchanged.
What a divisional applicant must show
- A person other than the parent applicant need not actually file a section 113 request, but must meet the evidence needed for a section 113 direction; otherwise the examiner objects to the difference in applicants.
- Applicant details can also change through section 104 amendments, so examiners check the parent file for them.
- Where the parent has joint applicants, all of them must file the divisional. The one exception is a co-applicant who can prove assignment of the other co-applicant's part interest in the parent.
- If the divisional applicant differs from the parent applicant, a statement that the nominated person is entitled to make a section 113 request for the parent is needed to keep divisional status; filing it with the request for examination is enough. Inventors, by contrast, may differ from the parent.
Section 5.7.2.3 of the manual adds the remedy: an objection to a divisional filed in another name can be met by a section 104 amendment requested by the parent applicant, or by a section 113 request from a person claiming under an assignment or agreement, supported by documents proving eligibility.
J&C recommends that anyone filing a divisional after the parent has been assigned, merged or partly transferred check three things first: that the applicant named is the parent applicant of record or a person who can claim under section 113, that assignment deeds and other proof are complete, and that the statement of entitlement sets out the section 113 basis. For a jointly owned parent, file with all co-applicants or have proof of the part-interest assignment ready.
Source: manuals.ipaustralia.gov.au | manuals.ipaustralia.gov.au
