Trademark guides & answers

Government fees are charged per class: about $250 per class using IP Australia’s pick-list of goods/services, or $400 per class for custom wording. There is no separate registration fee. Our professional/service fee is additional and shown separately. Fees changed on 1 October 2024 and should be confirmed at lodgement.

A registered trademark lasts 10 years from the filing date and can be renewed every 10 years indefinitely. If you do not renew, there is a 6-month grace period with a $100/month late fee before it lapses.

If unopposed, registration takes a minimum of about 7 months. Examination usually happens 3–4 months after filing, then there is a 2-month advertisement/opposition period before registration. Objections can extend this.

There are 45 Nice classes — 1 to 34 cover goods and 35 to 45 cover services. You register the classes that cover what you sell or plan to sell. Most small businesses need 1 to 3. Fees are charged per class. Our class finder can suggest classes from a description of your business.

No — and this is the most common and costly myth. Registering a business name or company name with ASIC is administrative only; it does not give you ownership of the brand and does not stop someone else trademarking that name. Only a registered trademark gives you the legal right to stop others using a similar mark.

It is not legally required, but registration is the only way to get an exclusive, enforceable, Australia-wide right to your brand, and it is far cheaper to enforce than unregistered rights. Without it, someone else could register your brand and stop you using it.

You can lodge an application yourself, but it is easy to get wrong and the mistakes are expensive. The hardest parts are choosing the correct classes and goods/services wording, and responding to an adverse examination report if IP Australia raises objections — these are common and difficult to overcome without experience. Government fees are non-refundable, you generally cannot broaden your goods/services after filing, and because Australia is first-to-file, a rejected or delayed application can leave your brand exposed or lost to a competitor. Trademarks Australia has handled this since 1997 with fixed, transparent fees and manages the entire process and all correspondence with IP Australia for you — which is why most clients choose to have us do it end-to-end rather than risk a costly misstep.

The ™ symbol can be used by anyone to claim something as a trademark, registered or not. The ® symbol means the mark is officially registered — it is an offence to use ® on an unregistered mark in Australia.

Filing them combined is cheaper but only protects that exact combination. Filing the word and the logo separately costs more but is stronger — the word is protected in any styling and the logo is protected independently of a future redesign.

Search IP Australia’s free Australian Trade Mark Search, considering deceptively similar marks (not just identical) in the relevant classes. For an important brand, a professional clearance search is advisable — we offer a free quick check and a paid professional search.

TM Headstart is IP Australia’s optional pre-application service — about $200 per class for an examiner’s assessment (usually within 5 business days), then $130 per class to convert to a full application. It flags registrability issues but does not check infringement.

No — trademarks are territorial. To protect your brand overseas you register in each country directly or use the Madrid Protocol (one international application filed through IP Australia and WIPO). Filing in Australia first gives you a 6-month priority window abroad.

An adverse report is not the end. You generally have up to 15 months to overcome objections through arguments, evidence, amendments or negotiation. Many initially-objected applications are ultimately accepted. We can help you respond.

Our fees are: basic name search & advice — free; thorough name research — $150; logo search — $200; adverse report review & advice — $150 per trademark; trademark application (single name, single logo, or combined name & image) — $450 each; trademark renewal — $490 per class (which includes the $400 IP Australia official fee plus our $90 professional fee). See the Fees page or use our cost calculator for a quote.

Trademark renewal is $490 per class in total, which includes the IP Australia official fee of $400 and our professional fee of $90. A registration lasts 10 years from the application date; late renewal is possible within six months of expiry.