Mark My Words Trademark Services Pty Ltd (‘we/us/our’) cares about your privacy and
is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with this policy and the Privacy
Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Cth) – which also includes the Australian Privacy
Principles (APP’s). The policy also accounts for the requirements of the General Data Protection
Regulation (‘GDPR’) for those of you based in the European Union.
The purpose of this privacy notice is to set out the type of information that we may collect about you and the
purposes for which we will use and/or disclose your personal information and how it should be treated.
We may change this privacy notice at any time. If we make any changes, they will be published on this page and
you will have immediate access to the most up to date version of this privacy notice. We recommend that
you check this page regularly.
Use of cookies
Most commercial websites, including this website, use cookies. Cookies are pieces of information that websites
send to the browser and are stored in the computer hard-drive. Cookies are designed to make using the website
easier by storing information about your preferences on the website. Cookies will not identify you
personally.
If you would prefer not to receive cookies, you can alter your security settings on your web browser to disable
cookies or to warn you when cookies are being used. However, by disabling the ‘cookie’ function in
your web browser you may impede your ability to use parts of the website.
What is personal information?
“Personal information” is information or an opinion relating to an individual that can be utilised to
identify that person.
Your personal information
We may collect and hold personal information about you during the course of conducting our business, such as:
- Your name;
- Contact information, including telephone number, email address, or any address;
- Job position or title;
- Membership of associations, industry groups, boards or networking groups; and
- If required, financial information.
The type of personal information we collect and hold about you will vary depending on the nature and purpose of
our relationship.
If the personal information you provide to us is inaccurate, or if you choose not to provide us with certain
personal information, we may not be able to contact you, give you access to information you have requested or
otherwise provide you with the outcome you require from us.
How we collect personal information
Your personal information will be collected by us through the website or otherwise through our dealings with you.
We will only collect personally identifiable information that you voluntarily provide. You may choose to provide
us with personally identifiable information if, for example, you contact us with an enquiry, register on the
website, subscribe to our articles or newsletters, fill out a survey or other form with your personal
information included or request us to provide you with information or services. If you are a client, you will be
required to provide us with your personal information to allow us to comply with our obligations to you.
Some examples of how we collect personal information includes:
- Directly from the source to whom the personal information relates;
- From referral partners, whom you have provided consent to pass the personal information on to us;
- From organisations about their employees and contractors;
- From organisations about their customers and suppliers;
- Marketing purposes, from events, seminars, business associates, potential new clients and other third party
sources; and - Contact forms and subscription forms completed by visitors to our website.
Email addresses of our staff are not provided as a means of prospective clients to contact the firm or submit
information to us. By clicking the “submit” checkbox and reading this privacy policy, you
acknowledge that we have no obligation to maintain the confidentiality of any information you submit to us
unless we have already agreed to act for you or we later agree to do so. Thus, we may represent a third party in
a matter adverse to you even if the information you submit us could be used against you in the matter, and even
if you submitted it in good faith effort to retain us.
We may collect certain information from visitors who access our website, including dates and time of access, IP
addresses, browser type, operating system and domain names.
We also may collect information via analytics software that can track use of the website. This analytic
information can include navigation through the website, number of visits, duration of the visit and the areas of
the website commonly used. This analytic information does not identify or disclose any personal information
about the visitor and is utilised to improve performance of the website.
This information can also assist us in preventing or detecting fraud or abuses of the website. By visiting our
website, you are accepting and consenting to the collection of this information. The information we
collect in this way will not personally identify you.
Use and disclosure of personal information
We use personal information collected for a number of reasons. You consent for us to collect, use, disclose and
store your personal information for the following purposes, which are related to the purpose for which you
provided the information:
- to conduct our business (including through the provision of Trade Mark consultancy services);
- to provide information or market our services that may be of interest to you;
- to communicate with you and manage our relationship with you;
- to facilitate our internal business operations, such as for internal marketing analysis;
- to comply with our legal obligations; and
- to help us manage and enhance our services.
We will disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected and related purposes.
You consent that we may also disclose your personal information (subject to our professional obligations)
to:
- our other members;
- Government organisations (specifically though not limited to, IP Australia)
- any third parties who assist us in providing services or who perform functions on our behalf (such as
mailing houses, specialist consultants, lawyers and barristers); - If a client or potential client requests a referral;
- to our external service providers, who assist us in operating our business (subject to the compliance with
the APPs); - courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities; and
- anyone else who you authorise us to disclose it to.
We do not rent, share or trade personal information.
Cross border disclosure
We will not transfer any personal information to recipients that are not located in Australia, unless:
- We have the consent from the individual to whom the personal information relates;
- It complies with the APP’s; or
- We are required to provide the personal information by law or necessity to complete our service to you (this
relates only to dealings involving foreign and/or international trade mark matters).
Consent
It is up to you whether you submit any other personal information regarding your identity when you use our
website or other services. By providing your personal information you are deemed to have consented to the
collection, use, disclosure and storage of that information as outlined in this privacy notice.
Right to be Forgotten
In consenting to this privacy notice, you are acknowledging that we have a professional obligation to retain your
personal information for a period of seven (7) years.
However, you may request that we refrain from contacting you using the personal information, and will pass your
personal information to any party, unless legally required during this period.
Security
We may hold your personal information in different ways, including in hard copy or electronic form. We have
measures in place to ensure that any personal information we hold is secure and protected from misuse, loss,
fraudulent activity and unauthorised disclosure.
All information is held in a secure, electronic or physical manner. Information storage methods include access
controlled premises or via electronic databases and customer relationship management databases that require
logins and passwords.
In the instances where a secure connection is utilised, so too is Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. SSL is
industry standard and ensures data transmission integrity, preventing any unauthorised access by an unauthorised
party.
We take all reasonable steps to protect all personal information that we hold from misuse or unauthorised
access.
Access and accuracy of information
We endeavour to ensure that the personal information it holds about you is accurate and up-to-date.
You have a right to view and have a copy of, personal information about you that we hold at any time, unless we
are permitted under the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 or the GDPR to
refuse access. If you are able to establish that personal information we are holding about you is not accurate,
complete and up-to-date, please let us know and we will take reasonable steps to correct it so that it is
accurate, complete and up-to-date.
If you wish to exercise your right of access and correction, please contact us using the details provided below.
We may charge you a reasonable fee for processing your request to access your information. Identification will
also be required to access personal information.
At any time you may opt out of receiving any communications from us.
Grievance procedure
If you wish to make a complaint about the way we have managed your Personal Information you may make that
complaint verbally or in writing by setting out the details of your complaint to any of the following:
Our Privacy Officer:
Jacqui Pryor
Alternatively, complaints may also be referred to a number of services as set out below:
Australian Information Commissioner
The Australian Information Commissioner receives complaints under the Act.
Complaints can be made:
Online: http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint
By phone: on 1300 363 992
By fax: on +61 2 9284 9666
In writing:
Address your letter to the
Australian Information Commissioner at the:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney
NSW 2001
OR
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 2999
Canberra ACT 2601 NSW 2001
Alternatively, if you are based in the European Union, then you may lodge a complaint with your local National
Data Protection Authority (‘NDPA’). Your local NDPA can be found using the European Commission
website at: https://ec.europa.eu/
How we will deal with your complaint
The complaint will be investigated by us in accordance with our internal procedures and processes.
The complainant may be invited to participate in a conference by the staff member conducting the investigation.
At the discretion of the Privacy Officer other interested parties may also be invited to participate in the
conference to discuss the nature of the complaint and attempt to resolve it. This may include the presence or
participation of a support person or advocate for the complainant.
The complainant will be provided with a response to their complaint within a reasonable timeframe after
completion of any investigation. This response will be in writing and will include the outcome of the
investigation, any proposed action.
How to contact us
If you wish to contact us about your personal information, to obtain further information about privacy or to
lodge a complaint, you should contact our Privacy Officer at the following email address:
For further information, please visit the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s website at
www.privacy.gov.au, or the European Commission’s website at https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en
