(Note: Amended version of that printed in TRN 18/11/04)

Legal Comment by Mark Illidge of Hinterland Lawyers

It is a common misconception that once you have registered a business name or company name this ensures that you have ownership of that name.  Registration of a business or company name is merely a license to use that name for the period of registration.

The only way to fully protect your name and/or logo is through trademark registration.  Trademark registration allows you to register as the owner of a name or logo, giving you exclusive rights and control over the use of that name or logo throughout Australia for ten years at a time.

Once you have registered a trademark you can prevent anyone registering the same or similar name or logo in the same industry.  Trademark can protect a phrase, a word, sound, number, smell, shade, colour, or picture that distinguishes your products or services from those of another.

The recent case involving mobile phone businesses, Crazy John v Crazy Ron, illustrates the benefits of protecting your name.  In that case the Federal Court ordered the owner of Crazy Ron to strip all of his 16 stores of its name as the court found that he was infringing the trademark of his competitor Crazy John.  Only last month, BP Australia won a case against Woolworths, where it was found that in the fuel industry Woolworths' Petrol-Plus sites are infringing the trademark of BP's identifying green.

Registration of a trademark is a relatively inexpensive and straightforward procedure provided the trademark is original.  The IP Australia web site www.ipaustralia.gov.au is a useful starting point.

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