Intellectual Property, Technology, Media & Communications

We provide strategic intellectual property (IP) services to small, medium, and large businesses to help you realise and maximise your reward for effort.

Make an enquiry or call us on 03 5273 5273

Capture the value of your brand and innovations, IP and other intangible assets

We help you determine the best application of your IP – the timing, the markets, the pricing – allowing you to plan with confidence and create the future.

We advise you throughout the trade mark process – from identification and creation, through to management, commercialisation and enforcement of your intellectual assets and IP rights.

Our IP expertise spans across areas such as Copyright, Moral Rights, Trade Marks, and other IP-related rights including confidentiality, trade secrets, and domain names.

Our Intellectual Property services include:

Registration of Trade Marks (domestic and international);
Opposition, revocation, and enforcement of trade marks;
Copyrights;
Moral Rights;
IP maintenance and registration renewals;
Registration of Business Names;
Commercialisation of IP including licensing, franchising, distribution agreements, and assignments;
Competition and consumer law;
Confidentiality and trade secrets; and
Terms and conditions;

How it Works

A trade mark can be filed in 45 classes, which cover different products or services, from clothing to computer software, from restaurant services to real estate services.

Only the classes that are applicable to your business need to be included in an application.

We provide considered advice as to what classes are most suitable to you, and then provide a tailored specification within those classes that best reflect your trade mark needs.

What to consider

Prior to investing in marketing a brand you have carefully developed, you may wish to consider the availability of that brand in an increasingly crowded marketplace. We can conduct searches and advise you as to the viability of a brand, or of any potential issues that may arise from your registered or unregistered use.

Get in touch with us today

If your require any further information please contact our Corporate & Commercial team

Contact Form

or call us on 03 5273 5273

Frequently Asked Questions

Your trade mark is your identity. It shows your customers who you are.

A trade mark is more than a logo, a trade mark is a way of identifying your unique business product or service.

Once a trade mark is registered, you are provided with the exclusive right to use your brand. This means if you see someone using a brand identical or deceptively similar to your trade mark, you will have grounds to ask them to stop using that brand. Likewise, a trade mark provides you with the protection against third parties asserting trade mark infringement against you.

Business Names and Company Names are not trade marks and do not provide you with the protection you need. Whilst you can register a company name or business name, this does not provide trade mark protection. If someone is using a similar business name to you, you do not have any legal grounds to stop their conduct.

The quickest a trade mark can become registered is 7 ½ months from the date the application is filed, so it’s best to plan ahead.

The process of a trade mark application involves:

(a) An application to IP Australia stating the details of trade mark, the owner and classes and specification in which to register.

(b) An examination by IP Australia to ensure the trade mark complies with the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth). This includes but is not limited to:

(i) whether your trade mark is distinctive enough to be registered; and

(ii) whether there are any trade marks already registered which are similar to yours;

IP Australia may object to your trade mark being registered, and any of IP Australia’s objections must be overcome before the application will progress to the next stage.

(c) Once your trade mark has been accepted by IP Australia, it will be advertised in the Trade Marks Journal for two (2) months to allow third parties who may have a claim to your trade mark to lodge an opposition.

(d) Provided no opposition is received, the trade mark will proceed to registration, whereby your rights to exclusive use will back date to the filing date and remain in place for ten (10) years, at which point you may renew the registration.

Commonly, a trade mark might be a word, a logo, a catch phrase or even your business name as you have displayed on any signage or packaging. However trade mark registrations are not limited to these, they may also be: