IP Australia has published a new package of information and advice for Australian businesses considering setting up in the United States to ensure their trade marks and other intellectual properties are protected.
Launching the Trade Mark Protection in the USA content package, Director General of IP Australia, Patricia Kelly (pictured) said expanding internationally was crucial to success for many Australian businesses.
“Protecting Australian brands can be an important element in succeeding in export markets”, Ms Kelly said.
“The US is Australia’s third largest two-way trading partner in goods and services after China and Japan and the world’s largest economy, with a population of over 325 million people.”
She said this represented a huge opportunity for Australian businesses and having legal protection for their brands could be a key to success.
She said one important aspect of protecting a brand was through trade mark registration.
“The more successful a business becomes, the more valuable the trade mark and the more important is protection,” Ms Kelly said.
“It can, however, be too late to think about trade mark protection after your brand becomes well known. Businesses need to secure their trade mark rights early.”
She said research commissioned by IP Australia found that 77 per cent of Australian start-ups surveyed were considering entering the US market, however, 43 per cent identified themselves as having fears about doing so.
“The content package aims to address some of the concerns around IP protection that Australian businesses have in seeking to enter the US market,” Ms Kelly said.
She said the package included a case study and advice on everything from applying for a trade mark in the US to what the costs would be and what the US trade mark examiners were looking for.
The IP Australia package can be accessed at this PS News link.
