Why should I register a trade mark?
Registering a trade mark provides you with guaranteed ownership over the use of your trade mark in Australia with respect to the goods and services you have registered it with. This means that other parties and traders are unable to use your trade mark in connection with their own goods and services as their own trade mark under law. Doing so may constitute infringement for which you may seek relief from a court to rectify. Without trade mark protection, the process of establishing ownership of your brand is substantially more difficult and costly when compared with the modest costs of registration.
For example, Woolworths is a registered trade mark in Australia in respect of groceries – if another business decided to call itself ‘Woolworth’ in the market of grocery retailing, this would constitute an example of infringement for which Woolworths would have rights.