Trade Marks Amendment – Bill 2006

The Trade Marks Amendment Bill 2006, which has recently been introduced into the Senate, contains 103 proposed changes to the Trade Marks Act 1995.

Below we highlight some of the most significant amendments:

• Adding as a ground of opposition that the trade mark has been applied for in bad faith.
• Allowing an application that has been accepted on the basis of use prior to the registration of a similar mark, to be successfully opposed on the basis of earlier use of a similar trade mark.
• Allowing for an opposition to be based on prior reputation in a mark that is not deceptively similar to the opposed mark, by removing the requirement that the opponent’s mark must be substantially identical or deceptively similar.