Patent applications filed and patents granted each year 1852 to 1915

In the period 1852 (from 1 October) to 1915 patent applications filed were numbered starting at 1 each year; granted patent applications retained the same number. Because of this regular repetition of numbers, it is very important to give the year as well as the "number" when investigating a patent; it may not be possible to help you if you cannot supply this information, but include anything you do know, such as manufacturer/inventor name and the nature of the item bearing a patent number.

Below are listed the number of patent applications filed each year (this is of course also the highest application number possible for that year) and also the number granted. In addition the cumulative total applied for and granted from the entry into force the Patent Law Amendment Act 1852 on 1 October 1852 is given, this figure includes all the patents applied for/granted for that year.

Until 1 January 1884 (nearly) all patent applications were published, but from that date generally only those granted were published. Following the introduction of the Patents & Designs Act 1907 (Section 91(4)), patent applications originating abroad and which claimed priority were laid open for public inspection after 12 months (later, 18 months), if not granted by then; many of the patent applications laid open were also printed and are available

*The 14,359 patents granted prior to the introduction of the Patent Law Amendment Act 1852 are not added into the cumulative total. For this period only granted patents were recorded and there is no corresponding figure for patent applications filed.