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Facts About
Trademarks!
In recent years Intellectual Property,
specifically trademarks, has been brought into the limelight
by television coverage of some famous trademark cases. It is only
now that business owners are realising the importance of protecting
their Intellectual Property, which includes their business names,
company logos and slogans.
It is often assumed that business name
registration in your state or territory will give you adequate
protection, so that someone else cannot use the same name or logo.
This is not the case. Only by registering your business or company
name and corporate logo as a trademark will you be
protected.
There is no such thing as a World-Wide
Trademark. Trademarks are registered country by country. Also, in
Australia, there is no such thing as a State
Trademark.
You do not have to be a Trademark Attorney or
a Trademark Solicitor to file a trademark application in
Australia, or handle correspondence the government office may
issue.
A trademark will take a minimum of 7 months to
become fully registered. It lasts for a period of 10 years, once it
becomes registered. After this 10 year period, you do not need
to 're-register' your trademark. You can simply renew
it.
The ™ symbol generally means 'trademark
pending'. You are allowed to use this symbol whilst your trademark
is being examined, up until the point that it becomes registered.
Once you trademark becomes fully registered, you may then change
this symbol to an ® which will indicate that you have a fully
registered trademark.
You must not use the ® symbol until your
trademark is fully registered. It is a federal offence to use the ®
symbol without trademark registration. If your mark is registered
in another country, and you use it in Australia, you must include
reference to the country.
You may, however, continue to use the ™ symbol
once your trademark is fully registered. Some companies do not like
the look of the ® symbol and would prefer to continue using the ™
symbol.
The © symbol is used in relation to copyright
only. Copyright is automatic and is generally applied to 'extensive
work', such as stories, song lyrics, artwork etc...
Contact
usif you would like more information about
copyright.
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