There's a new gold rush coming to the industrialised world thanks to a super material that may change several industries, but Australia may not be doing enough to capitalise on it.

A form of carbon, graphene is a million times thinner than paper, stronger than a diamond and more conductive than silicon. It is expected to change technology and internet speeds for ever, so it's no wonder many countries are jousting for a slice of its research, development and commercial action.

The Nobel Prize organisers describe graphene as the perfect atomic lattice.

In July 2011, there were 3018 published patent applications relating to graphene worldwide. In the past 18 months this has almost tripled, with 8416 by February, according to the UK's Intellectual Property Office. The patent war is a four-way battle between China, the US, Korea and Japan, while the researchers who isolated the versatile two-dimensational material - Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov - are based at Manchester University in Britain.

"It's sad to see the Nobel prize winners are based in Manchester while the UK's patenting activities are woeful," says Australia-based material scientist Ian Birkby. "I won't even mention Australia's activities."