Your business’s brand is integral to the goodwill in your business – possibly the most valuable asset of your business. To protect your brand (or to make sure you are not unintentionally using somebody’s else already established brand), whether you are just starting your business or you have been in business for a while, you should register a trade mark.
What is a trade mark?
Most commonly, a trade mark is a distinctive word, phrase or logo/picture (or combination of these). It could also be a distinctive sound, smell, shape, letter or packaging.
A registered business name does not give you trade mark protection. Trade mark protection is achieved through IP Australia.
What are the benefits of a trade mark
Registering your brand name (such as business name) or logo is not compulsory, but by registering it, it gives you exclusive rights and your competitors cannot use it. Trademark registration is the best form of brand protection.
Once you have registered your trade mark, you can have confidence to develop a brand name or logo that is distinctive to your business to be used on your business signs, stationary, website, etc.
Application to register a trade mark
We can prepare your application for registration. There are 45 classes from which to choose, and of course we will assist you in identifying the appropriate class(es) which apply to your business.
Generally, the waiting period from the time of filing an application and acceptance for registration of a trademark is 3 to 4 months.
The cost is less than is generally perceived and is dependent on the number of applications and classes. The current application fee charged by IP Australia per application is $250 (at the time of writing this post). Our professional costs on top of this are very reasonable.
Trade mark registration protects recognition of your brand and is therefore an investment for your business. If you would like to discuss protecting your business branding with us, feel free to call Leanne Scott of Scott Legal on (03) 9111 0078 or leanne@scottlegal.com.au for a confidential discussion.
Download the information sheet.
© Scott Legal 2020
