Intellectual Property & Trademark Lawyers
Business & Commercial Law
Protect your intellectual property and trademarks with expert legal guidance.
Safeguard your business’s most valuable assets – its intellectual property (IP) and trademarks – with tailored legal solutions from our experienced business and commercial law team.
At Attwood Marshall Lawyers, we provide a comprehensive range of intellectual property and trade mark services. Our goal is to help you secure, manage, and enforce your intellectual property rights in Australia, giving you peace of mind in a competitive market.
Your ideas, brand, and creative works set your business apart.
Protecting your IP ensures:
- Your brand’s reputation is protected: Secure your trademarks to build customer trust and distinguish your service offering.
- You have exclusive rights and legal protection: Retain full control over how your designs and branding are used and prevent others from using or misappropriating your work without consent.
- You secure the value of your business: Intellectual property is a vital business asset that enhances your company’s market value and competitive advantage.
We understand how important it is to protect your intellectual property assets in a competitive market. Intellectual property law can be complex, and our lawyers offer tailored solutions and strategic advice to protect what matters most to your business.
Our Intellectual Property and Trademark Services
Our experienced intellectual property lawyers provide a full range of services, including:
Ensure your brand is legally protected in Australia and internationally.
Assess and identify your IP assets to ensure they’re fully protected.
We can help you defend your rights and resolve trade mark infringement or IP infringements.
Maximise the value of your intellectual property through licensing agreements.
Safeguard your creative work and unique designs from unauthorised use.
FAQs
A business can trademark words, logos, phrases, sounds, colours, shapes, and scents that distinguish your goods and services. Our trademark lawyers can guide you through the entire process, identifying and protecting eligible elements of your brand.
A trademark is a symbol identifying a business or its products. It can include a business’s logo, word, phrase, or a design. A trademark can also be applied to a sound, scent, or colours. For example, the ‘Tiffany Blue’ colour is trademarked by Tiffany.
On the other hand, copyright protects creative works such as literature, photographs, video and audio content, and artwork. Copyright is automatically granted, whereas an individual or business must register a trademark.
Copyright protection duration can vary depending on the type of material under copyright. Generally, copyright will last for 70 years for works after the death of the author, 70 years from publication for audio recordings and films after being made public, or 50 years for television and radio broadcasts after they were broadcast.
Once copyright has expired, the material will fall into the public domain and can be freely used.
A registered trademark in Australia is valid for 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely, ensuring long-term protection for your brand.
The Australian Government offers a step-by-step process for applying for a trademark in Australia. The process involves:
- Determining who owns the trademark;
- Checking if you’re eligible to apply for a trademark;
- Researching the type of trademark you’re applying for and any existing trademarks that may be similar. Not doing your due diligence before applying for a trademark could result in costly mistakes;
- Choosing the appropriate type of application;
- Gathering all the necessary documentation;
- Filing the application;
- It takes approximately three to four months for a trademark application to be examined. Once completed, you will be notified if your application was successful or if it has ben opposed. If your trademark has been opposed, an intellectual property lawyer can assist you with applying for the opposition to be overturned.
In addition to registering your domain name with the Australian Domain Name Authority, you can also trade mark domain names. By doing so, it will provide exclusive ownership and protection over your chosen domain names.
There are benefits to trademarking a domain name, including making it harder for others to imitate your business or use a similar name.
By using the Australian Trademark Search Tool (click here), you can search existing trade marks on IP Australia’s website.
Currently, there is no way to apply for a worldwide trademark, however, should your business require intellectual property protection in other countries, you can choose to obtain and manage intellectual property rights for each country you intend to operate in.
Each country will have different application requirements and their laws will differ to Australia’s laws.
You can apply for trademark registrations overseas either through that country’s intellectual property office, a regional intellectual property office, or through the Madrid System – which is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation. The Madrid System allows you to file a trademark application in several countries through one application.
The costs depend on the number of classes your trademark is registered under.
At your initial consultation, our lawyers can provide an upfront estimate and guide you through the registration process so that you know what to expect from the start.
At Attwood Marshall Lawyers, we have a team of Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Lawyers who practice exclusively in copyright infringement, trade mark misuse, and defending your intellectual property rights.
Our team can provide expert advice and assist with cease-and-desist letters, mediation, and court proceedings to enforce your rights and prevent further misuse of trade marks.
The process: how we help protect your IP assets
1. Consultation
When you meet with one of our intellectual property lawyers, we'll start with a detailed consultation to understand your business, brand, and intellectual property needs.
2. Search and assessment
We conduct comprehensive searches to ensure your trademarks and other IPs are unique and meet registration requirements.
3. Application and registration
Our IP lawyers will prepare and lodge your trademark application with IP Australia, ensuring all details are correct to avoid delays.
4. Examination by IP Australia
IP Australia will examine the trade mark application, then publish it on public registers. We can help you overcome any issues raised by the trade mark examiner or opposition.
5. Outcome and enforcement
IP Australia will publish the outcome. If you are successful and the trade mark is registered, your trade mark is enforceable against third parties. We can provide support for enforcement if needed.
6. Commercialisation
Should you wish to license or sell your intellectual property, we can draft agreements to protect your rights and best interests.
Get expert legal advice to protect your intellectual property and secure your business's future
Let us help you protect your business’s most valuable assets by having an experienced legal team ensure your intellectual property and trade marks are secure, enabling your business to grow confidently.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation and take the steps necessary to safeguard your creative and commercial assets.
