When you select your international search authority and international preliminary examination authority, it is important to understand what subject matter each office is competent to search and examine.
The Australian Patent Office will not be a competent International Searching or International Preliminary Examining Authority for international applications filed by nationals and residents of the United States of America with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as the receiving Office where such applications contain one or more claims relating to mechanical engineering or analogous fields of technology.
The full list of excluded subject matter, as agreed between the Australian Patent Offices and United States Patent and Trademark Offices (USPTO), is defined by international Patent Classification class, as follows:
| A01 | AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING, all classes except A01H, A01N, A01P, (i.e. new plants or processes of obtaining them thereof, Preservation of human, animals bodies or plants, biocidal, pest repellent, pest attractant or plant growth regulatory activity of chemical compounds or preparations) |
| A21 | BAKING; EQUPIMENT FOR MAKING OR PROCESSING DOUGHS; SOUGHS FOR BAKING all classes except A21D, (i.e. Treatment of flour or dough for baking) |
| A22 | BUTCHERING; MEAT TREATMENT; PROCESSING POULTRY OR FISH |
| A23N | MACHINES OR APPARATUS FOR TREATING HARVESTED FRUIT, VEGETABLES OR FLOWER BULBS IN BULK |
| A23P | SHAPING OR WORKING OF FOODSTUFFS |
| A24 | TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES |
| A41-47 | PERSONAL AND DOMESTIC ARTICLES (e.g. headgear (A42), footwear (A43), haberdashery (A44)) |
| A61 | MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE, all classes except A61K, A61L, A61P and A61Q (i.e. preparations for medical, dental or toilet purposes, methods apparatus for sterilizing materials or objects, chemical aspects of bandages, dressings, absorbent pads, or surgical articles, therapeutic activity of chemical compounds, use of cosmetics or similar toilet preparations) |
| A62 | LIFE-SAVING all classes except A62D (i.e. chemical means for extinguishing fires, processes for making harmful chemical substances harmless, or less harmful, by effecting a chemical change, composition of materials or coverings or clothing for protecting against harmful chemical agents; composition of materials for transparent parts of gas-masks, respirators, breathing bags or helmets; composition of chemical materials for use in breathing apparatus |
| A63 | SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS |
| B06 | GENERATING OR TRANSMITTING MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS IN GENERAL |
| B21,
B22-B27 |
All except B23K (i.e. soldering or unsoldering; welding; cladding or plating by soldering or welding; cutting by applying heat locally, e.g. flame cutting; working by laser beam) |
| B31 | MAKING PAPER ARTICLE WORKING PAPER |
| B60-B68 | All except B60L, B60M and B60Q (i.e. electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles; magnetic suspension or levitation for vehicles; electrodynamic brake systems for vehicles, in general, power supply lines, or devices along rails, for electrically-propelled vehicles, arrangement of signaling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles in general) |
| D01-D07 | Textiles all except D06L, D06M, D06N, D06P, D06Q (i.e. bleaching, treatment of fabrics, dyeing or printing textiles, decorating textiles) |
| E01-E06 | FIXED CONSTRUCTION |
| E21 | EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING |
| F01-F04 | MACHINES |
| F15-F17 | ENGINEERING ELEMENTS, ACTUATORS, STORAGE OR SISTRIBUTION OF GASES OR LIQUIDS |
| F41-F42 | WEAPONS, AMMUNITION |
| G04 | HOROLOGY |
| G06 | COMPUTING; Calculating; Counting |
| G10 | MUSICAL INSTUMENTS |
| G11 | INFORMATION STORAGE |