Posts By: N Murray-Jones

From 24 March 2022, new .au domain names will be available for individuals and businesses with an Australian presence. The new .au domain features are:  The name of choosing will be directly before the .au (e.g. yournamehere.au)  The domain name does not have to match the name of the goods or services provided or the individual or business name  The .au namespace will allow for shorter […]

At the end of August 2021, the new Fijian Trademarks Act 2021 (New Act) was gazetted, with a commencement date set to be announced in “the very near future”. This will replace the nearly century-old Fijian Trademarks Act 1933 (Act). The current Act is based on the UK Trademark Act of 1905. Despite the current Act being nearly a […]

So often we are asked – what trade mark should I register? Do I register the words contained in my trade mark (answer; yes)? Should I also register my logo (answer; yes – but…)? First and foremost, the broadest protection you can obtain from a trade mark registration is a word trade mark. Plain block […]

During the 2019 Federal election, Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party (UAP) campaign featured the song “Aussies Not Gonna Cop It”. The song contained the lyrics “Australia ain’t gonna cop it, no Australia’s not gonna cop it, Aussies not gonna cop it any more”. Universal launched copyright infringement proceedings against Mr Palmer in 2019 on the […]

Once your trade mark is registered, you need to ensure you use it correctly in order to maintain and protect your rights in your trade mark. Things to remember: Once your mark is registered, always use it with the R symbol wherever your trade mark appears.  This includes packaging, websites, social media, brochures etc.  For […]

Once your mark is registered the work does not stop there – you must remember to maintain your mark by using it properly and renewing it every 10 years. Once you have a registered trade mark you have the exclusive right to use that mark on the goods/services covered by the registration.  You can also […]

Since 2016, news of Brexit has dominated headlines but in the past 12 months Brexit has disappeared from the front page as COVID began dominating our newsfeed.  However, Brexit has been quietly ticking along behind the scenes. The UK’s exit from the EU came into effect on 31 January 2020 and a transition period was […]

Fiji’s current trade mark law is based on British trade mark legislation enacted nearly a century ago and therefore it is well overdue for an overhaul. Currently, the Act provides for independent registration of trade marks in respect of goods but not services or registration as of rights based on United Kingdom registrations. Goods are […]

Late last year Amazon launched in Australia and while its arrival was a little underwhelming, online retailing is posing a number of challenges to brand owners including the ability to deal with the sale of counterfeit goods on Amazon. To assist sellers to protect their brands, Amazon has created the Brand Registry. While this program has been welcomed […]

Shape Trade Marks Prior to the introduction of the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Act) shapes were not registrable as trade mark, however Section 6 of the Act now includes “shapes” as a sign that can be registered as a trade mark, hence the birth of a shape mark, including 3-dimensional shapes in Australia. Registered Design […]