As US trade marks holders will know, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requires validation of trade marks at 6 and 10 years following registration. This is achieved by lodging evidence showing that at least one item included in each class of the registration...
[caption id="attachment_22885" align="aligncenter" width="626"] Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash[/caption] A review of IPONZ official fees for patent, trade mark, and designs took place in 2018. Whilst the review found that no changes were considered necessary for design services, last month changes to fees for trade mark and...
When a trade mark is filed for the first time in a Paris Convention member country and the applicant applies for protection in any of the other member countries within six months of the first filing, the subsequent applications will be treated as if they had been filed on...
By Kellie Jukkola, first published on SavvySME As the proud owner of an SME, you’ve probably been told plenty of times to register a trade mark for your business name or other brands. You might even have a bit of an understanding about the process,...
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash In trade mark news out of Southeast Asia, Malaysia has passed the Trademarks Bill 2019 bringing it a step closer to acceding to the Madrid Protocol. The amendments will also make way for recognition of non-traditional trademarks in Malaysia, including sounds, smells,...
From 3 August 2019, foreign trademark applicants and registrants must use a US-licensed attorney to file all trademark-related submissions with the United States Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO). The USPTO has made the changes in an attempt to increase compliance with USPTO regulations and US trademark...
Trade marks professionals and supporters of the underdog alike are buzzing today over reports of Ikea’s opposition against an application to register the trade mark “Stylkea”. Touted as a ‘David and Goliath’ battle, Ikea is seeking to prevent the use of the ‘-kea’ suffix, on the basis that consumers...
In good news for legitimate brand owners, the China Trademark Law has been amended in an attempt to limit bad-faith trade mark filings. The changes will take effect from 1 November 2019. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China...
In celebration of World Intellectual Property Day, IP Australia recently released the seventh edition of the Australian Intellectual Property (IP) Report. In addition to detailing recent trends and changes in IP activity in Australia, the IP Report included a number of interesting case studies. One case...
Following changes to the Madrid Agreement and Protocol in February of this year, trade mark law has been updated to allow for the division and merger of International Registrations designating New Zealand. Effective from 21 March 2019, applicants for International Registrations which designate New Zealand can...