Owners of Australian trade marks should carefully review any unsolicited correspondence received from unfamiliar companies regarding their trade marks, given the significant increase in unsolicited mail offering trade mark registration or renewal services in a manner that often suggests an existing relationship or obligation.
In order for the proper operation of the Australian trade marks regime, details of a trade mark application including the name and address of the applicant are made available to the public and are accessible via IP Australia’s ATMOSS database.
However, an unfortunate side-effect of making this information publicly accessible is that anyone with internet access is able to obtain applicant contact details and send unsolicited correspondence offering to renew or register trade marks, often in jurisdictions other than Australia.
If DibbsBarker applied for trade mark protection in Australia on your behalf, our firm is recorded as your official Address for Service. This means that we will receive all official correspondence from IP Australia in relation to your trade mark application and/or registration and will contact you when it is time to renew your trade mark.
Accordingly, trade mark owners should be wary and view with suspicion any correspondence related to trade marks which is not sent by their trade mark attorney or lawyer. This is especially the case if such correspondence requests payment. You should also check whether these fees represent good value for money. Sometimes this unsolicited correspondence implies that you have an obligation to pay the sender’s fees.
The organisations and individuals behind such schemes sometimes use names that suggest that they have official sanction or connection with government authorities. In some instances, the services offered do not affect official trade mark registration or trade mark rights in Australia. Indeed, they sometimes relate to inclusion in unofficial lists of marks the sender has created, quite unrelated to the official registers.
IP Australia has issued
warnings in relation to a number of these companies that have identified themselves as:
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Commercial Centre for Industry and Trade (based in Switzerland)
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Company for Economic Publications Ltd (based in Austria)
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Company for Publications and Information Anstalt (based in Liechtenstein)
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Edition The Marks KFT
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European Institute for Economy and Commerce - EIEC (based in Belgium)
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Federated Institute for Patent and Trademark Registry (based in Florida, USA)
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Gaia Almanach LTD
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Globus Edition SL (based in Spain)
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I.B.F.T.P.R - International Bureau for Federated Trademark & Patent Register
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INFOCOM (based in Switzerland)
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Institute of Commerce, Trade and Commerce (based in Switzerland)
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International Patent and Trademark Register (based in Nurnberg, Germany)
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IT & TAG (based in Switzerland)
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Patent & Trademark Organisation LLC (based in USA with a street address in Melbourne)
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RIPT - Register of International Patents and Trademarks
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TM Collection (based in Hungary)
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TM Worldwide (based in Hungary)
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TMP, Trade Mark Publishers (Austria but with a street address in Sydney)
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ZDR-Datenregister GmbH (based in Germany)
Registration of a trade mark in Australia grants the owner of a trade mark a monopoly to use that trade mark in relation to the goods and services listed in the trade mark specification in Australia. If goods are manufactured or sold, or services provided, under a trade mark in jurisdictions other than Australia, trade mark owners should consider seeking trade mark protection in those specific jurisdictions.
Should you have any concerns as to whether correspondence in relation to the renewal of your trade mark registrations is legitimate, please contact:
T +61 2 8233 9586
F +61 2 8233 9555
T +61 2 8233 9554
F +61 2 8233 9555
The information in this document is provided for general guidance only. It is not legal advice, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional legal or other advisors. No warranty is given to the correctness of the information contained in this document, or its suitability for use by you. To the fullest extent permitted by law, no liability is accepted by DibbsBarker for any statement or opinion, or for an error or omission or for any loss or damage suffered as a result of reliance on or use by any person of any material in the document.
This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, it may only be reproduced for internal business purposes, and may not otherwise be copied, adapted, amended, published, communicated or otherwise made available to third parties, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of DibbsBarker.
