Acceptance of a Trade Mark Application

What happens once a mark is accepted?

If no objections are raised in relation to a trade mark application, or once the Applicant has successfully overcome any issues raised during examination, the mark will be accepted for publication.

Once is accepted, the trade mark will be published in the Australian Official Journal of Trade Marks for a two-months. During this period any third party to may come forward tooppose the registrationon the basis of any of the grounds of opposition.

Deferment of acceptance of a trade mark

Trade mark acceptance may be deferred upon written request by the applicant, where there is deemed to be sufficient justification.

A deferment can be requested on the following basis:

• The trade mark(s) citied as being in conflict are still pending their own acceptance
• A conflicting registration(s) has been challenged and is undergoing non-use removal or cancellation proceedings;
• the cited trade mark(s) has a registration status of “expired – renewal possible”
• the conflicting trade marks have pending court action
• the applicant aims to establish either their prior use or honest, concurrent the applicant is in the process of obtaining a letter of consent from the owner an earlier cited of trade mark

A Request for Deferment of Acceptance may be requested at any time within 15 months from date of the first adverse report. If the request is entered close to the acceptance deadline, it may also be necessary that the Applicant apply for an extension of time for the deferment request to be considered before the application lapses. Deferments are granted at the Registrar's own discretion.

The end of the deferment period will depend on the circumstances in which the deferment was requested. Possible scenarios on when the deferment will end include:

• The conflicting application/registration has been withdrawn
• The Registrar is satisfied the ground for rejection no longer exists
• Proceedings described above have ended and the conflicting mark(s) has been removed or renewed.

For deferment granted on the basis of prior use, honest concurrent use and other circumstances, deferment will end after a period of six months. The new acceptance date will be calculated based on the end date of the deferment.