Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

[Index] [Search] [Download] [Related Items] [Help]

TRADE MARKS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1996 NO. 184

STATUTORY RULES 1996 No. 184

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Industry, Science and Tourism

Trade Marks Act 1995

Trade Marks Regulations (Amendment)

The Statutory Rules amend the Trade Marks Regulations (the Regulations) to provide the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC) with the means to obtain trade mark protection for their logos and mascots and at the same time to maintain secrecy up until the time of their official launch.

The rights arising from registration of a trade mark, generally speaking, date from the day of filing of the application for registration (the "priority date"). Where there is more than one person claiming the right to register the same or closely similar marks, the matter is usually resolved in favour of the first-filed application. One consequence of the significance of the priority date is that prospective applicants for registration, or intending users of a trade mark, should be able to inform themselves as to whether their intended actions are going to conflict with another's prior rights before committing to the expense of using and/or seeking registration of a trade mark. As a way of addressing this need, the trade marks legislation requires the Registrar to publish relevant details of an application for registration as soon as practicable after the filing of the application (normally two to three days after filing).

It is clear that public release of the Sydney 2000 Games logo and mascot prior to the official launch would have serious consequences for the promotional impact of the launch, which would in turn impact on the organisational credibility of SOCOG, SPOC and, possibly, on the good standing of the Commonwealth Government insofar as the latter's support for protection of the Games' intellectual property rights is concerned.

The cost of staging the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games is estimated to be around $2 billion. It will be -shared between SOCOG, SPOC, the Government of New South Wales and the Commonwealth Government. The ability of SOCOG and SPOC to organise and market the Games is fundamental to achieving a good budget outcome. Given these circumstances, the real benefit gained by postponing publication of details of SOCOG and SPOC's applications far outweighs any potential inconvenience to other applicants.

Details of the amendments made by these Statutory Rules are as follows:

Regulation 1 identifies the Trade Marks Regulations as those to be amended.

Regulation 2 amends Regulation 4.7 of the Regulations to add new subregulation 4.7(3). Subregulation 4.7(3) requires the Registrar to postpone, for three months, the publication of the details of an application for a trade mark lodged by SOCOG or SPOC so long as the application is accompanied by a written request for the postponement. The Registrar must publish the details as soon as practicable after the expiration of three months after the filing date of the application. This subregulation will cease to have effect after 31 December 2000.