"Headstart" trade mark applications are
assessed within 5-10 days. Instead of filing a standard trade mark
application and then waiting 6 or 7 months to find out if there are
any problems, it is possible to "test the water" by first
filing an application through IP Australia's fast-track
headstart system.
Five to 10 days after filing the application (and sometimes even
sooner) a Trade Mark Examiner issues a headstart report listing any
objections that are likely to be raised during formal examination.
The Trade Mark Applicant then has a further five days to decide
their next step. The options are either to (1) formally file the
application or (2) abandon the application.
Once a headstart application has been formally filed, the
details of the application are made publicly available on the
Australian Trade Marks Register and the application proceeds
through formal examination (nb. the details of abandoned headstart
applications are never made public). The objections
