Trademarks

A Trade Mark is the name, logo or other indication that helps distinguish your products and services from those of other traders.

Registered Trade Marks have the advantage of potentially lasting forever and can in some cases be one of a company’s most important assets. Registering a Trade Mark gives you a legal monopoly on that Trade Mark for your goods and/or services in Australia or in an overseas country depending on where you choose to file an application.

It is important, before you use or decide upon a name for your product or service, that at least some preliminary searching be conducted so as to reduce the chance of going into the marketplace with a name that is the same or very similar to that of one which is already existing. There is an increasing number of trade mark related litigation as businesses try to ensure that competitors are kept at arms length.

Failure to do have an understanding of the landscape can be a real pain! Imagine, eventually deciding on a particular mark, going to the expense and time to have artwork created, packaging, printing, advertising material created etc only to be brought to a standstill when you receive notification of potential infringement of a registered trade mark. the effect can be devastating to your business.

That’s why we recommend at the very least a quick review of the Australian trade mark database (ATMOSS) to see if there is an exact match for your intended mark.

Preferably, we recommend that a professional opinion be obtained as to the likelihood of infringement and also suitability for registration to try and address issues before they arise.

At Collison & Co we aim to understand your business, listen to what you want to achieve and provide clear pragmatic advice focused on your commercial activities.

For a discussion of how trade mark can play a role in your business please contact one of our trade mark attorneys.