Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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TRADE MARKS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 318

STATUTORY RULES 1994 No. 318

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Small Business, Customs and Construction

Trade Marks Act 1955

Trade Marks Regulations (Amendment)

The Statutory Rules amend the Trade Marks Regulations (the Regulations) to provide a mechanism for early consideration of certain applications for registration of trade marks; to revise certain fees payable under the Regulations; to revise the costs and an allowance that may be awarded in proceedings before the Registrar; and to make minor consequential and drafting changes to the Regulations. Details of the amendments are as follows:

Regulation 1 sets 1 October 1994 as the commencement day for these Regulations.

Regulation 2 identifies the Trade Marks Regulations as those to be amended.

Regulation 3 amends subregulation 4(3), consequent on the renumbering of fee items in Schedule 2 to the Regulations.

Regulation 4 inserts regulations 7A and 7B which allow for expedited examination of applications for registration of a trade mark, on the request of the applicant. The request must be in writing, state reasons for requesting expedited examination, arid be accompanied by the prescribed fee. Where these requirements are met, the Registrar must determine whether or not to grant the request for expedited examination. Also, the Registrar may expedite examination on the Registrar's own initiative, if it is warranted having regard to all the circumstances. Regulation 7B provides that, as far as practicable, expedited applications for registration of a trade mark will be examined before other applications and in the order in which requests to expedite them are lodged.

Regulation 5 revises certain fee items in Schedule 2 to the Regulations, to better align the amounts of the fee items with the costs of the actions for which the fees are prescribed. Items 6, 7, 8 and 9, substituted for omitted items 7 and 8, revise the fees for hearings before the Registrar, to more adequately reflect the costs associated with both the preparation and conduct of the hearings. In particular, the fee items for appearing at certain hearings before the Registrar have been replaced by items for informing the Registrar of the desire to be heard. New item 16 prescribes the fee for requesting expedited examination under regulation 7A. Certain items have been renumbered, to maintain consecutive numbering.

The Australian Industrial Property Organisation (ALPO), which incorporates the Patent, Trade Marks and Designs Offices, operates on a Group 2 Trust Account arrangement. AIPO is required to recover all of its costs from fees charged by the Patent, Trade Marks and Designs Offices. AIPO is committed to containing cost increases for normal operations within inflation and to achieve productivity gains at least equal to the efficiency dividend required of the Australian Public Service.

Fees for certain services performed by the Patent, Trade Marks and Designs Offices are increased with effect from 1 October 1994. The aggregate effect of these fee increases will be to raise an additional $2.6 million revenue in the period to the end of 1995, given the predicted composition of demand. Cost increases over this period, flowing from AIPO's move to accrual-based pricing, expected changes in accommodation costs, and inflation, are expected to amount to approximately $4 million. The shortfall will be absorbed through productivity increases in AIPO. The aggregate increase in fees since commencing full cost recovery in 1984 remains less than CPI.

To achieve the additional revenue required to the end of 1995, the fee levels of 9 of the 13 fee items prescribed in Schedule 2 to the Regulations, prior to amendment, have been increased.

Regulation 6 revises Schedule 6 to the Regulations, which sets out the items and amounts of costs, expenses and allowances that may be awarded against parties to proceedings before the Registrar. The amounts of the cost items (in Part 1 of Schedule 6), and the daily maximum amount that may be paid for meals and accommodation to a person attending proceedings before the Registrar (specified in paragraph 2(b) in Part 2 of Schedule 6) are set to retain parity with the amounts of costs that may be awarded in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. The revised amounts in Schedule 6 reflect increases in the amounts of costs that may be awarded in that Court. Also, the wording in some of the amounts has been amended to reflect the latest drafting style.