Description of series:
128 bound volumes, each 10"x8", and of varying thickness (from 1 to 2") containing printed copies of specifications of inventions for letters patent wh ich were received, lodged and registered at the Patents Office, Melbourne, under the Patents Act 1903-1921. Each specification bears a registration number (single number followed by the year of registration) date of application, name of the actual inventor and applicant,date of receipt of application, date complete specification lodged, date specification advertised, class, and title of the invention.
 
History Prior/Subsequent to Transfer:
"Prior to transfer-"Prior to 1904 each Australian State had
independent jurisdiction in respect of Patents and enacted their own laws in the matter. The Commonwealth Constitution Act(9th July,1900) gave the Federal Government power to legislate concerning Patents and the first Commonwealth Patents Act was passed in 1903. The act came into force on the 1st June,1904,on which date the administration o of the States Patent Acts of each Australian State was transferred to the Commonwealth.Under the Act the powers and functions vested under State laws became vested in the Commonwealth. The Act was
administered by a Commissioner of Patents who was appointed to thatOffice on 20th January, 1904. Within the Department of Trade and Customs, the Commonwealth Patents Office was established on the 26th February, 1904 and sub offices also established in each State. Under the Act all specifications of inventions for letters patent were now lodged at the Commonwealth Patents Office, Melbourne. Saleable copies of the specifications were regularly printed and copies of the publications forwarded to the various Patent Sub Offices in each State. In Queensland a master set of the publications for the period 1911-1915 was arranged primarily in order of class, i.e. Classes 00-1 to 99-8. Each class was then arranged in numerical order, with gaps, and bound into volumes, Overlapping of classes is common in many volumes. An index to the contents of each volume was then compiled. On the 9th November, 1936,control of the Commonwealth Patents Office was transferred from Dept. of Trade and Customs to the Investigation Branch of the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department.
 
Administrative information
 
The following data was keyed from the paper documentation:
Form number:              CA 17
Creating department:      , TRADE & CUSTOMS, PATENTS SUB OFFICE,                           BRISBANE
Transferring department:  , ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S, PATENTS, TRADEMARKS,                           DESIGN AND COPYRIGHT SUBOFFICE, BRISBANE Date of transfer:         15/05/1969
Archives file number:     RWB7/3/4