The renewal of intellectual property rights differs for each of patents, trade marks and designs in Australia.
Renewals are due annually starting with the fourth year after filing a standard patent application (which has a maximum term of 20 years from the filing date), or starting with the second year after filing an innovation patent application (which has a maximum term of 8 years from the filing date). A patent (or application) will lapse if a renewal fee is not paid by a given deadline, which means that there will no longer be any patent protection for the invention and third parties may be able to freely exploit the invention.
The first renewal is due 10 years after filing the trade mark application, which will then prolong the life of the trade mark registration for another 10 years. This process of renewal is repeated every 10 years for as long as renewal fees are being paid on time.
The initial term of a design registration is 5 years, and a single renewal fee is payable before the fifth anniversary of the Australian filing date to extend the term of the design registration to a maximum of 10 years.