Australian Parliament Passes Trade Marks Amendment Bill

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

17 October 2006

The Trade Marks Amendment Bill 2006 was passed in Australia's Parliament last Thursday, making a number of incremental improvements to the Trade Marks Act 1995 that will strengthen the Trade Marks system and provide greater certainty for Australians and Australian business.

The improvements to the Trade Marks Act came about through a review conducted by IP Australia, the Australian Government agency responsible for administering the patents, trade marks, designs and plant breeder’s rights systems. The review found that the trade marks system was working effectively, but there were some changes that could be made to enhance the system.

The changes made by the Bill will improve the trade marks system in a number of ways. Key amendments included:

• The ability to conduct simple trade mark transactions over the phone;
• Two new 'opposition to registration' provisions; and
• Increased certainty that ownership of and interests in a trade mark have been recorded accurately on the Register of Trade Marks.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, Bob Baldwin last week described trade marks as very important resources for business.

“A registered trade mark represents a valuable business asset that can help to establish a strong and competitive market position," he observed.

“The Trade Marks Act 1995 has been in force for ten years and strengthening of the trade mark system will increase consumer confidence that they are buying genuine goods and services with the quality expected from the brand or mark," Mr Baldwin concluded.

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