Australia is usually a key market for many New Zealand companies and patent applicants. The Australian patent system is very similar to that in New Zealand but there is one significant difference. In addition to standard patents, patent applicants in Australia have the option of filing an innovation patent. An innovation patent confers a shorter monopoly than a standard patent (8 years rather than 20 years), but it requires a lower degree of innovation to obtain a valid patent and it only needs to be examined if the patent rights need to be asserted.