Often referred to as brand names or brands. A Trade Mark is a word, phrase, logo, sign or symbol that identifies goods or services as coming from or being provided by a particular trader from those of other traders.

A Trade Mark Registration provides you with exclusive rights to prevent others from using substantially identical or deceptively similar Trade Marks for similar goods or services to your own.

IP SENTINELS can assist you with:

• Searching to see if your chosen trade mark is already taken by someone else, or providing an opinion on whether the trade mark is likely to be allowed by the Australian Trade Marks Office (IP Australia) or the New Zealand trade marks Office (IPONZ)
• Filing an application to register a trade mark with the Australian Trade Marks Office, New Zealand Trade Marks Office, and in Trade mark Offices around the world, including filing an International Trade Mark Application under the Madrid Protocol, or by use of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
• Prosecuting your trade mark application through to grant, which includes advising on responses to Office Actions by Trade mark Examiners (also called examination reports or provisional refusals) and filing the response in the best way to overcome the objection raised by the examiner
• Running an opposition against the grant of a trade mark registration or defending an opposition filed by someone else against the registration of your application
• Providing infringement or freedom to operate advice.  This may be to a trade mark holder wishing to enforce the trade mark registration rights against an infringer or it may be to a business wishing to avoid infringing the rights of a trade mark registration owner
• Attending to annuities (payment of renewal fees) along with monitoring of annuity dates

Guide to Australian and New Zealand Standard TRADE MARK application procedure