Searching made easier with IP Australia’s new trade mark search engine

IP Australia, the government agency responsible to administer intellectual property rights and legislation in Australia has released their new search engine for trade marks.

If you are familiar with their previous search engine (ATMOSS), you are in for a treat.  The new interface is simpler, more user-friendly and is teeming with new features to help make searches quicker and easier.

What is new?

1. The layout

The new Quick Search features (in the “I am interested in …” section) now offer helpful tips and descriptions, helping non-legal people navigate and understand what and how to conduct appropriate searches.

The search page has also received a facelift bringing it in-line with the rest of IP Australia’s site creating a clean and cohesive website.

2. Administering searches

The previous search engine required text regardless if your search related to word marks or logos/images.  Now, you can search by text or images or even portions of text or portions of images.

If you need to know if the circle in the left-hand corner of your proposed logo is similar to another logo, the new search engine can provide you with these results.

3. Displaying results

Even before you select search, the new search engine will provide you the expected number of results.  This small feature can help you refine your search and reduce your search time by removing the need for unnecessary clicks.

For example, if you enter a term and you see IP Australia will return over 2000 results, this is a good indication that you should refine your search with additional text (if appropriate).

4. Class and Status breakdown

Following the trends of big data, IP Australia will now provide a breakdown of information related to the class and status of your search.

For example, if you search for trademarks relating to the term “lawyer”, this new feature displays a circular graph which shows that 36.7% of the trademarks within IP Australia that include the term lawyer are in class 45.  The graph also provides information relating to how many trademarks are registered, removed or pending.

This graph is very helpful in the early stages of trademark registration as it can provide you guidance on how popular a term is.

5. Alex, the virtual assistant

Finally, IP Australia has integrated online chat through Alex, the virtual assistant.  Alex is there to help you navigate the new site and answer your questions.

Alex will also provide feedback to IP Australia so that it can continue to improve its site.

Should I be using IP Australia’s website?

If you:

1. have a device, substance, method or process that is new, inventive and useful;
2. use a mark to distinguish your goods and services from others; or
3. have a design that gives a product a unique appearance and that is new and distinctive

and you want to protect your intellectual property through a legally enforceable right then IP Australia’s website is the tool to use to start that process.

Once you have decided you want to register your intellectual property, or if you are unsure if registering is appropriate for you, we recommend contacting a legal professional with experience in intellectual property or trade mark law such as the experts at Rouse Lawyers.