Many people assume that a business name and a trade mark are one and the same.  In fact, there are significant differences between the two. In order to answer the question of whether you can register an existing business name as a trade mark, it’s important to understand those differences and understand what steps you […]

A trade mark search should be one of the very first things you do when you are considering starting a new company or launching a new product or service.   In doing so, you won’t waste precious resources developing a name that will ultimately end up in the rubbish basket because you discover it is too […]

There’s no legal requirement to use the registered trade mark symbol next to your trade mark in the course of trade. However, if your trade mark is registered using the registered symbol – ®- can be a helpful way to signal to the public and also to your competitors that your trade mark is protected […]

There are limited changes that you can make to a trade mark application after you’ve filed the application. Some examples of the kinds of changes you can make are: Changing the Actual Trade Mark You may be able to change the representation of the trade mark only if  the change does not substantially affect the […]

When you file a new trade mark application with IP Australia, an examiner gets appointed to assess your trade mark against the criteria of registration that is set out in the Australian Trade Marks Act 1995, and these include a number of different requirements for registration. There are different reasons why your trade mark application […]