The patent landscape is increasingly recognised as the leading source of information regarding new technology innovations. The vast majority of innovators file patent applications, whether they are large or small companies, researchers or small inventors.

This makes patent data useful to determine trends in technology development as well as technology ownership. In this paper we analyse patents relating to chemical and process engineering patents filed in Australia since 2001, selecting these patents based on the IPC8-Technology Concordance IPC codes for chemical engineering patents.

This analysis will show patent filing trends in relation to:

• Leading fields in chemical & process engineering relevant to Australia, including oil and gas, mineral processing, food technology, pulp and paper and steel/steel products production.
• The leading patent applicants in each of these fields.
• How Australian applicants compare to patents filed by applicants from the US, Japan and the increasing numbers of patents filed by Chinese patent applicants.
• The leading inventors for Australian filed patents filed by Australian companies or individuals, as against overseas leading inventors.

The authors will also provide some suggestions as to where we, as a country, can improve our performance.