Trademarks

What Is A Trade Mark?

A trade mark is a “sign” that acts as a “badge of origin” and differentiates your business, product or service from those of competitors. To be registered as a trade mark your mark must be “distinctive” and not descriptive. For example, you could not register the word “soap” as a trade mark for soap (because other soap manufacturers would want to use the word soap when describing their soap products). A good example of a distinctive trade mark that is non-descriptive, is Apple for computers. The word Apple is not at all descriptive of computers, so other traders who want to use the word Apple would only do so to trade off Apple’s reputation. Of course, if you own a fruit company or a fruit juice company, the word Apple would be descriptive and not registerable as a trade mark as others in that industry would need to use that word to describe their goods.

What Different Types Of Trade Marks Are there?

• Logo
• Word/s eg Acacia, IBM, Microsoft, McDonald’s
• Advertising slogan “Acacia Law – We’ve Got You Covered”
• 3 dimensional shape eg shape of Toblerone chocolate
• Sound eg Microsoft tune whenever you boot up a Microsoft product
• Smell eg “smell of freshly mowed grass”

Do I really need to register my business name as a trade mark?

 Where can I register my trade mark?

We can register your trade mark in Australia, New Zealand or internationally.

Trade Marks should be registered in each country of interest.

 When should I apply to register a trademark?

When Can I use the  ® and TM symbols?

Trademarks filings

We offer fixed fees for trade mark applications. The fee includes filing the application, prosecution (if any) and registration formalities. Additional fees are only raised if any of the following are necessary: a hearing, a removal application (to remove a cited mark which cannot be otherwise overcome), filing of evidence of use, filing or defending oppositions or revocation applications. Our fees are fixed per trade mark and we do not add additional fees for additional classes or additional marks in a series.

Trade Mark Searches:

We provide trade mark searching services and provide registerability and freedom to operate opinions. We offer competitive rates.

Examples of some trade marks registered by Acacia Law:

Acacia Law is well-known for successfully registering difficult-to-register trademarks.

Trademarks are used to protect brand names and other features of a product that are distinctive.  Brand names, logos, 2D and 3D shapes, sounds, smells, colours may be protected. If you have any queries or want to know if something is registrable.Acacia Law files trade mark applications in New Zealand and/or Australia.  We offer discounts if registration of the same mark is undertaken in both territories. We also provide filings for international trademark applications (Madrid applications).

Further information about Trade Marks Can Be Found At:

Trade Mark Informational Videos
Benefits Of Registering A Trade Mark
Risks Of Not Registering A Trade Mark
My Personal Name Is My Brand – Should I Register It As A Trademark?
Descriptive Trade Marks, Logos and Domain Names
Some Essential Trade Mark Search Questions Answered