How trademark renewal works in Australia

An Australian trademark does not last forever on its own. It is registered for ten years, and to keep it you renew it with IP Australia before the ten years are up. Miss the date and the registration can lapse, which can leave a brand that has been built over a decade with no registered protection at all.

The ten years are counted from the filing date, which is the day the application went in, not the day it was finally accepted. Applications can take many months, so the renewal date tends to arrive sooner than people expect. The date is on the trademark's record in the public IP Australia search, and it is worth writing down the day you get the registration.

Renewal is usually possible during a window before the expiry date, and for a short period afterwards the registration can still be renewed, though at extra cost. Beyond that the trademark is removed from the register. IP Australia sets the exact periods and fees and updates them, so check its site for the current figures before you rely on any date you have been told.

Who gets the reminder

IP Australia sends renewal reminders to the contact details on the trademark record. For a trademark registered years ago, that is often an old email address, a former business partner, or the agent who lodged the application and may no longer be involved. If the details are out of date, the reminder goes to someone who does not know what it is.

This is the same trap that catches business names and domains. A reminder is only useful if it reaches someone who will act on it, so a quick check once a year that all your records show a current email address saves a lot of trouble.

Renewing is done by the owner of the trademark or by someone acting for them. With us, you search for your trademark on our site, select it and pay, and we handle the renewal with IP Australia. You might also get a letter from us before the date. It has a QR code and a reference number, so you scan the code or type the number in and pay, which saves searching for it. If you are not sure what protection you hold, or whether the mark covers what you now sell, that is a question for a trademark attorney, as we do not give legal advice.

Keeping the other two in step

Your trademark is only one of the renewals in front of the business. The business name renews with ASIC every one or three years, and your domain renews on its own term. We look after all three. For a business name, search the name in our renewal box, choose one or three years and pay, with the ASIC renewal fee included. For domains, we register and transfer .com.au, .au and .com names, and you manage them and their renewals from your Registry dashboard.

If you want to see what is falling due across your trademark, business names and domains, our team can look on 1300 070 000, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Melbourne time. You can also look up your trademark's renewal date yourself on the IP Australia trademark search.