Australian_trade_mark_law
Australian trade mark law is based on common-law use-based rights as well as the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth), which is administered by IP Australia, an Australian government agency within the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.[1]
Use-based rights are less certain than registration, and depend on the mark having developed a reputation in the region in which a business owner seeks to enforce its common-law trade mark. Registration provides advantages such as constructive notice and nationwide rights.[2]
Among other things, the Trade Marks Act defines trade marks (including certification marks and collective marks), what constitutes trademark infringement and defences and exceptions thereto, and (together with the Trade Marks Regulations 1995 (Cth)) sets out procedures for registration and other proceedings before the Registrar of Trade Marks. The legislation does not codify the law of trade marks in Australia; as a common law jurisdiction, a trade mark owner may also (for example) seek to protect its rights through legal proceedings for passing off[3] or, more commonly, misleading and deceptive conduct contrary to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
Section 17 of the Trade Marks Act defines a trade mark as "a sign used, or intended to be used, to distinguish goods or services dealt with or provided in the course of trade by a person from goods or services so dealt with or provided by any other person".[4]