The nation’s administrator of intellectual property rights such as patents, trade marks, designs and plant breeder’s rights has launched a new technology-enhanced online tool to assist small businesses and individuals apply for trade marks to secure their brand name.
IP Australia has unveiled Trade Mark Assist which it says will make it easier for everyone, from small businesses to larger corporations, to protect their intellectual property.
Director General of IP Australia, Patricia Kelly said Trade Mark Assist would help users check whether their proposed trade mark complied with relevant requirements and was a strong candidate for registration.
“It also helps them identify relevant goods or services classes in which they may wish to register their trade mark,” Ms Kelly said.
“Trade Mark Assist makes the process of applying for a trade mark more efficient for businesses seeking to protect their brand.”
She said it would also help customers make better decisions early in the application process and reduce common mistakes.
“Assisting trade mark customers is a high priority for IP Australia,” Ms Kelly said.
“Trade mark rights represent our largest filing category with over 76,000 applications in 2017.
“Almost two thirds of Australian applicants are self-filers and around half of these only ever file once.
” Thus we are constantly looking for ways to make the system simpler and more effective for applicants.”
The new online service can be accessed on the IP Australia website at this PS News link.
