Overseas Trademarks

Trademark Business Name Australia

There are a number of international strategies which are selected by our Attorneys to suit your commercialisation plans and goals.

Some regard the international trademark system as reducing work, but in fact, you need to pay per country, per class.

Also, the application is split up and forwarded to each country for assessment. So, your trademark is still assessed according to the particular country process, timeframes and trademark legislation.

We have a trusted network of Associates and contacts globally who can assist with overseas trademark filing strategies and protection.

Our firm

Our firm has advanced systems which track and ensure that your trademarks do not go amiss in any country.

We manage and optimise our overseas associate work to ensure it meets your strategy and needs.

If you are considering deploying or trading with a trademark overseas, then it is important to book a consultation with our Attorneys before any sales are made.

Attorney Searches recommended before overseas trading

Of upmost importance are Attorney searches before entering any market. The more searching the better – by you, by your attorney and by the Trademark Office.

Given that overseas trademark applications can take up to 2 years to be assessed, it is vital to conduct Attorney searches initially to detect third party infringements and lodge applications as early as possible.

It is far better to identify the conflict issues before lodging rather than face them after either trading or even registering a trademark.

It may be better to adopt a different brand altogether.

What problems do we regularly see?

Key aspects of what we see forgotten with international trademarks is evidence of use filing requirements (which are not required in Australia), and renewal fee deadlines being met.

Another problem we also find is that self-representing Australian trademark applicants often have the wrong (or missing) content for their Australian Trademark Registration. It is not a service of IP Australia to pick up on mistakes – in ownership, format of the trademark, class(es), the description of the goods/services, or even missing goods/services.

Extending the wrong (or limited) trademark rights, would otherwise clone the mistakes offshore.

In this case, we recommend to re-lodge a new Australian trademark application before embarking on the overseas trademark protection to ensure you are covered properly.

The issue with refiling a trademark is that the better rights commence from when we lodge a new application. This can be risky if there has been an infringement by a rival, which might not have been identified yet.

How do you get started?

Bookings can be made here or you can make an enquiry for a quote here.

 

30+ Reviews Australia wide and Internationally

 

Trademark Registration Package 1

(high risk – no searches)
✔ Trademark Attorney Consultation
✔ Application (includes 10 year registration)
✔ Written Advice
✔ Ownership Advice

Get Quote

 

Trademark Registration Package 2

(medium risk – some searches)
✔ Trademark Attorney Consultation
✔ Application (includes 10 year registration)
✔ Written Advice
✔ Ownership Advice
✔ Comprehensive Australian Register Searches

Get Quote

 

Trademark Registration Package 3

(little or no risk – comprehensive searches)
✔ Trademark Attorney Consultation
✔ Application (includes 10 year registration)
✔ Written Advice
✔ Ownership Advice
✔ Comprehensive Australian Register Searches
✔ Australian Common law Searches for identical names

Get Quote

 

Trademark Registration Brisbane

 

 

What People are Saying

Hear from some of our clients with the reviews below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

The Trademark Application process takes a minimum of 8 months, and if registered you are protected for 10 years provided you comply with the rules and regulations as provided for in the Trademarks Act 1995 (Cth).

The Trademark Registration can be terminated unless you continuously comply with Trademark rules for trading.

Only a Trademark Attorney can watch these rules and ensure you are meeting your obligations.

WHAT SERVICES DO WE PROVIDE?

We conduct regular Trademark Audits to check you do comply with trading Trademark rules and laws, and that there are no gaps in Trademark coverage.

This is important for all businesses because they usually diverge from their original brand position in new directions that could possibly void the original Trademark rights.

Where are the mistakes made?

Many businesses fail to get their Trademark Application content legally correct, and this is not checked by IP Australia, who will approve incorrect legal details.

This leaves you exposed to gaps and legal issues which will only be identified by a Trademark Attorney when you engage one to represent you when a copycat trades with the Trademark (or similar), or a Third Party opposes your Trademark.
It is not your necessarily your “trademark right”, even if you submit a trademark application first, or even if you have a Registered Trademark.

The Trademark Act 1995 (Cth) does provide for many other requirements outside of the application process which deem you (or someone else) to hold and own “true” ownership to the Trademark.

NOT CONVINCED?

Read in our blogs where business actually can end up after they lose their Trademark Registrations in the Federal Court and up for Damages.

We have reported just some of the Court cases in our blogs where D.I.Y. Trademark applications were cancelled and failed to be enforced.

This is usually the outcome for D.I.Y. because the Trademark Applications lacked the right legal detail, or the business wasn’t the “true” owner with the right legal basis, even though they applied “first”.

For 15 years, our patent and trademark attorney firm has proudly serviced the intellectual property needs of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Darwin, Canberra and Adelaide businesses.

Call us today on 1300 138 802 to speak with one of our Patent and Trademark Attorneys.


Fully Accredited

IPTA is our Patent Attorney industry institute. A Patent Attorney has to have exceptional experience and also recommended by other Patent Attorneys to be a member. Our Director is a Fellow.

Trademark FAQ’s

Click below to find out:

Many wrongly think an ASIC registered business or company name provides rights to a brand! It doesn’t.
See ASIC’s website where they discuss conflicts (disputes) between names. Their advice is to seek legal advice. Our firm conducts infringement research.

If you are concerned with your business, brand or are about to start a business, please fill out our trademark form.

Our research goes beyond any clients, for example, these two are in conflict:

 

    • Creative@Work

    • Kre8tive at Work

Why wait for registration in 8 month?

Why stress over the fact that your Registration could be removed by the Courts because you didn’t know Trademark laws like we do?

If a Court holds that you were not entitled, then they will order IP Australia to remove your Registration, leaving you to pay for compensation claims.

A Registered Trademark can be enforced against any other business that name, or similar for in the same or closely related fields.

The Registered Trademark Owner can sue to claim damages or profit, so it’s wise to check for infringements and rule them out before the commencement of trading.

Be sceptic of what advice you find online or through unqualified people.

It usually is incorrect or misrepresents legislative requirements.

In Intellectual Property, what is visible above-ground is nothing compared to what lurks in the actual laws beneath

The Trademark Office assist by searching & assessing Trademark Applications.

Our Trademark Attorney research covers a great deal more in identifying conflicts, and our searches are insured risk.

The Trademark Office process whilst good, has many limitations, including:

– No warranty or insurance provided on their assessment.
– They don’t carry liability for approving rights in error.
– Endorses using Trademark Attorneys.
– Publish applications which may raise issues with the owner of a similar trademark.

– Takes 8 months (minimum).

Your name and address are published online by the Trademarks Office.

When you are represented by our trademark attorney firm you can safely ignore scams and know you haven’t missed authentic correspondence.

You won’t find out the gaps in your understanding until it’s too late and you possibly find you don’t have the protection you thought you had.

One day you may be approached for purchase of your trademark rights.

Before the deal is finished, the quality of the rights should be checked by a Trademark Attorney.

Poor quality trademark rights will cause a buyer to walk away.

One example we have seen happen so often is discussed below.

Company A (D.I.Y.) and Company B (represented) are rivals applying for the same or similar Trademarks to protect their business name.

Scenario 1
Company A’s Application is rejected because it is incorrect and a new application cannot be lodged because Company B now has secured the Trademark rights.

Company A is forced to come up with a new business name. In some cases businesses find this out many years after having run a business which is a real brand concern.

Scenario 2
Company A’s application content had some real gaps in ownership, coverage and therefore will fail to protect them when they need to use it. They are not told this during the Application process because the Government doesn’t review their business plan or website. Company A has little or no rights but think they do.

Company C copies Company A’s Trademark and gets away with it because the Company A’s Trademark has failures in cover and/or ownership.

Professional help is a must.

We see many Trademark Registration which carry little or no enforcement possibility, or worse, present legal conflicts which lead to Court Action.

Represented businesses have fewer legal errors which can render a trademark invalid.

Many are unaware that a trademark can have different protective values, based on experience (0%, 5%, 80%, etc).

Protective value is the ability to stop a competitor.

It depends on the quality of the trademark’s legal content and whether it could be contested by rivals who have a better case to argue for ownership.

This value is NOT assessed by the Trademarks Office, and is a hidden disadvantage for the unrepresented.

Also, many legal errors cannot be “fixed” later, and are found when it is all too late.

How to go about this can be quite confusing and is often done incorrectly.

Here’s a step-by-step trademark logo guide:

1. Don’t design graphics until you are confident the words featured in your logo don’t infringe: Otherwise, you may waste your funds developing a logo if the words infringe. A Trademark Attorney can conduct trademark searches and assess your proposal. D.I.Y. searches or quick searches by professionals often lead to issues that are only brought out when Court action is commenced. See our Court case reports.

2. Make certain the graphics do not infringe either: If you design a boomerang for your clothing do you infringe Nike’s “Tick symbol” even though they are different items? For legal confidence, a Trademark Attorney should evaluate your image and ensure your logo does not infringe.

3. Trademark your logo: You need the legally correct format, class(es), wording and ownership to enable your Barrister to stop copycats, otherwise your trademark will certainly almost not work. The Trademark Office does not assess these filed components and presumes they are all right. See this Court case where a D.I.Y. Trademark owner engaged a Trademark Attorney when his trademark was infringed to stop a copycat. His Trademark Attorney spotted an issue with the D.I.Y. trademark and amended the Trademark details to fix it, then took Court action. However the judge dismissed the case and ordered Cancellation of the “amended” Trademark Registration on the basis that it was invalid when lodged. The D.I.Y. Trademark owner could not stop the copycat!

4. Wait 8 months for your Trademark to be Registered before use: The Trademark Office does not warranty rights, and the Registration can be Revoked if it were not legally right for you to own them. For clarity, an attorney can lessen your risk in just 2 weeks (or less) with comprehensive infringement research. Beware of quick easy looking searches or offers, they often are not comprehensive and are not worth it!

5. Once Registered, find infringements each month: Monitoring for infringements is not a role of The Trademark Office. An attorney can assist you assess whether a rival’s use of your name infringes and seek compensation for you.

Ready to be represented?

Click the get started button below to obtain a free quote.