When a complete specification becomes OPI, all documents associated with the application and in the possession of the Office become OPI at the same time, with the exception of the following (sec 55(1) and reg 4.3):

a. documents that would be privileged from production in legal proceedings on the ground of legal professional privilege;

b. documents subject to court or tribunal orders prohibiting disclosure of the document or information that it contains; and

c. a document that the Commissioner has reasonable grounds for believing should not be made OPI. (Note that under sec 56, such documents are available for inspection upon request. For further information, see 3.13 Documents Not OPI – Orders for Inspection).

Examiners should note that, apart from the exceptions identified above, all documents associated with the application (whether or not they are physically present on a paper case file or attached to an Ecase file) become OPI when the complete specification becomes OPI, including examiners' reports, the search information statement (or information sheet), attorney correspondence, any file notes, quality assurance check sheets, any citations associated with the case file (including any annotations on the citations), as well as associated provisional specifications and basic documents.

When a notice of acceptance of a standard patent (or grant of an innovation patent) is published in the Official Journal, the following documents become OPI if they are not already:

all documents filed in relation to the application (or the patent) whether before or after acceptance (or grant);
copies of all documents relating to the application (or patent) given by the Commissioner to the applicant (or patentee); and
any documents filed after the patent ceases, is expired or revoked;

with the exception of the following:

documents subject to court or tribunal orders prohibiting disclosure of the document or information that it contains; and
a document that the Commissioner has reasonable grounds for believing should not be made OPI.

Hence in the case of applications for standard patents, documents subject to legal professional privilege become OPI when acceptance is advertised.

A specification or other document which has become OPI is deemed to have been published (sec 55(3)).

The "specification" referred to in sec 55(1) is the specification originally filed and any substitute specification (or part of a specification) that may have been subsequently filed.

Where a specification is amended prior to becoming OPI, then upon notification that the specification is OPI, both the unamended and the amended forms of the specification are OPI. Similarly, where the specification is amended after notification that the specification is OPI, the amended form of the specification is also OPI. Proposed or requested amendments are OPI when the complete specification becomes OPI, whether or not they have been allowed.

PCT Applications

The provisions relating to the publication and inspection of PCT applications are essentially the same as those outlined above (see sec 56A and reg 4.4). Note, however, that where the International Bureau does not publish a document that is part of a PCT application and which contains sensitive personal or financial information that is not essential to the working of an invention, that document must not be made OPI unless:

the information has been redacted; and
the redacted document is not covered by points a) to c) above.