Trademark Renewal Service

You can find our trademark lawyers at: 801, Level 8/100 William St, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011 (view in Google Maps).

How our trademark renewal service helps protect your brand

Maintaining the integrity of your brand can be challenging. You have to navigate complex trade mark laws, manage timely renewals, protect against infringement, and balance costs with legal protection. At Progressive Legal, our goal is to alleviate these concerns and let you focus on your business. We:

• Simplify trade mark laws and regulations
• Ensure timely renewals to prevent lapses
• Provide robust protection against infringement
• Offer cost-effective legal solutions

Your registered trade mark is a valuable asset and maintaining it is crucial for your brand, regardless of your business’s size. Get in touch for a no-obligation quote to discover how our trademark renewal service can maintain the integrity of you brand.

Key considerations before renewing your trademark

One of the many great things about a trademark is that once it’s registered in Australia, that trademark can last forever, provided it is renewed every 10 years. As long as you renew it every 10 years, it’s yours and there are no annual fees.

To avoid any oversight, it’s vital to keep track of your trade mark’s expiry and renewal dates. As experienced trademark lawyers, we maintain a detailed record of our clients’ trademark renewal deadlines. We’ll send you timely reminders when it’s time to renew your trademarks.

Why is timely trademark renewal crucial for your business?

Timely trademark renewal is more than just a legal requirement; it’s a strategic move to protect your business’s identity and reputation. Here’s why it’s essential:

Prevents loss of legal protection

Failure to renew your trademark on time can result in the loss of exclusive rights, leaving your brand vulnerable to infringement and imitation.

Maintains brand value

Consistent trademark renewal helps maintain the value of your brand. It assures stakeholders and customers that your brand is actively protected and managed.

Avoids costly legal disputes

By keeping your trademark current, you reduce the risk of legal battles over brand ownership, saving your business time and money in the long run.

Strengthens market position

Regular renewal signals to competitors that your brand is well-defended, deterring potential infringers and solidifying your market position.

In essence, proactively managing your trademark renewals ensures your brand’s security and longevity.

Six key things to consider before renewing your trademark

In the months leading up to your trademark renewal, it’s a really good time to check that all the details of your trade mark are accurate and in line with the current state of your business.

Over a period of 10 years, significant changes may occur, making it essential to review and update pertinent information. Here are some key things to consider:

Is the owner still the correct person or entity?

The trade mark owner should ideally align with the entity holding intellectual property rights for your business. If inaccuracies exist, it could jeopardise the validity of your trademark.

Legal assistance is recommended to facilitate a Deed of Assignment that transfers the trademark to the correct owner promptly.

We strongly advise you to seek legal and financial advice to ensure your trade marks are held in the correct legal entities.

Is the owner’s address correct and up to date?

Frequent changes in business locations or outdated contact information can result in missed correspondence.

Correcting and updating the owner’s address is crucial to prevent lapses in trademark applications, potentially saving decades of intellectual property from being lost.

Is the address for service correct?

The address for service, whether a lawyer’s or accountant’s, requires meticulous attention and changes in legal representation or accountants necessitates prompt updates.

Usually it doesn’t matter what the address is on IP Australia for the business itself, it’s all about the address for service. They won’t send correspondence to both addresses.

You may get a whole bunch of junk mail to your physical address as it’s on the public register but that’s not where legal correspondence or IP Australia correspondence will be sent.

Are you still using the trade mark for the goods or services you have claimed?

Evaluate whether your trademark is still actively used for the claimed goods and services.

If changes occur, such as discontinuation or refinement of product lines, request deletions at least 3 weeks in advance of the renewal date. Regularly assessing usage also aids in addressing non-use applications effectively.

Have you expanded your range of goods and services since obtaining your trade mark?

If your business has expanded its offerings since obtaining the trademark, consider filing a new application to cover the additional fields.

Adequate protection ensures comprehensive coverage and guards against potential vulnerabilities.

You can have multiple trade marks that cover various different classes and activities. There’s no limit to the amount of classes and activities you can have with different applications and some businesses even choose to do this as a strategy to have them registered in different classes. Others choose to add further trade marks as their core activities change.

Consider seeking legal advice to assess and expand protection as business activities evolve.

Are there any more brand names, logos, tag lines, icons or other ‘badges of origin’ that you’re using in business that you should be protecting?

Beyond your registered trademarks, there might be additional brand elements like names, logos, taglines, or icons that need protection.

As you approach trademark renewal, take a moment not only to assess current registrations but also to identify any potential trademarks that might have slipped your mind during busy launch periods.

Consult your legal counsel about applying for additional trademarks to reinforce your brand’s legal protection. This step is essential to safeguard every facet contributing to your business’s distinct identity.

Reflect on the multitude of elements serving as a “badge of origin” for your business. What constitutes your unique “brand stamp,” and what would be concerning if replicated or approached too closely by others?

Remember, the ability to prosecute trademark infringement hinges on having a registered trademark under the Trade Marks Act. While you possess other legal rights, the process may not be as straightforward if a situation escalates.

Proactively address brand protection during the renewal phase to save your business from potential complications. Consult an experienced legal team to ensure comprehensive and robust protection for all facets of your brand identity.

How much does it cost to renew your trademark?

Renewing your trade mark incurs a renewal fee, currently set at $400 per class by IP Australia.

Remember, neglecting to renew before the 10-year expiry date triggers a grace period of 6 months, but late renewals incur a monthly late fee of $100.

As part of our trademark renewal service, we will forward you the correspondence from IP Australia once the renewal has been accepted.

Otherwise, you can check the status of your registration through our free Australian Trade Mark Search here.

If the address of the trade mark owner is your address (and not in the care of your lawyer/trade mark attorney or accountant), there’s a high chance you’ll receive unsolicited invoices and/or notices.

These notices bear no connection to IP Australia and are often marketing materials or scams. You aren’t obliged to pay any fees received from unfamiliar organisations in relation to your trade marks or domain names.

Protect your trade mark from scams and unnecessary fees. Contact us to learn how to identify and handle unsolicited mail targeting your trade marks.

Our team of dedicated trade mark lawyers is here to provide exceptional service and handle all correspondence with IP Australia on your behalf. Let us make the trade mark renewal process seamless and stress-free for you.

Request our advice below or contact our experienced trademark lawyers on 1800 820 083 to renew your trade mark and ensure its long-term protection.

“The team at Progressive legal are great to work with. They are very knowledgeable and offer advice where necessary. They manage all of our company trademarks and it makes a process that could be really daunting be really easy. Their emails are always very clear and they are always professional and friendly.”

Donna