A Light at the End of the Tunnel? Registering Your Trade Mark

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Table of Contents

• Paying the Registration Fee
• Scope of Registration
• What Happens if I Don’t Pay the Registration Fee?
• The Certificate of Registration

You’ve agonised over your trade mark concept and spent sleepless nights researching which classes of goods and services are right for you and your business. You’ve submitted your application and patiently waited as it undergoes acceptance, examination, advertisement and perhaps even opposition (for those unlucky few). You’ve passed hurdle after hurdle, and it is now time to take a deep breath and exhale as your mark awaits registration. In many ways, registration is the end point of a trade mark application. It is this final step, or rather, milestone that confers upon you, as the mark’s registered proprietor, the exclusive right to:

• Use the mark;
• Assign or otherwise authorise others to use the mark;
• Sell the mark; and
• Prevent others from doing the same.

But, like with most things, you’re not there quite yet, there is one more thing that you need to do – pay the registration fee.

Paying the Registration Fee

The Australian Official Journal of Trade Marks advertises all trade mark applications. The purpose of advertising a mark is to allow other trade mark owners, or people claiming an interest in your mark, to submit an opposition to your application. You can pay the registration fee within six (6) months of advertising the trade mark.

Technically, IP Australia will not register a trade mark until at least seven and a half (7.5) months have lapsed since it was filed. This is to ensure that Australia honours its international obligation under certain Intellectual Property Rights legislation. IP Australia, however, has adopted the practice of advertising trade mark applications, at least, five (5) months after the filing date.

Scope of Registration

In most cases, once you pay the registration fee, the trade mark is considered registered from the date of filing the application and is protected for ten (10) years from this date.

IP Australia can shorten the term of protection if the trade mark is either removed from the register (involuntarily, and usually as a result of non-use proceedings) or cancelled by the registered proprietor.

What Happens if I Don’t Pay the Registration Fee?

If you don’t pay the registration fee within the permitted time, or the time as extended, the application will lapse.

The Certificate of Registration

Once you pay the registration fee, you will receive a trade mark certificate. The certificate will contain the particulars of your mark and is conclusive proof that IP Australia registered your trade mark, per the certificate.

Questions? Get in touch with LegalVision’s trade mark lawyers on 1300 544 755.