{"id":44364,"date":"2023-10-20T15:35:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/apple-seeks-to-trademark-startup-in-australia-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:35:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:35:26","slug":"apple-seeks-to-trademark-startup-in-australia-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/apple-seeks-to-trademark-startup-in-australia-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple seeks to trademark \u201cstartup\u201d in Australia – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Apple has lodged a trademark application for the term \u201cstartup\u201d in Australia.<\/p>\n

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The application covers a wide range of usage. Apple lodged a similar, unsuccessful claim in Australia in 2011.<\/p>\n

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Here is a screenshot of the application:<\/p>\n

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A spokesperson from IP Australia, the body that administers Australia\u2019s intellectual property rules, says if the application passes the examination phase, and isn\u2019t successfully opposed, the term could become officially protected after seven-and-a-half months.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt won\u2019t be officially protected for at least seven and a half months. If it is accepted, there is a chance to oppose, although it is only a two month window from the date the application is accepted,\u201d the spokesperson told StartupSmart<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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Brian Goldberg, an intellectual property lawyer at Premier IP Ventures, told StartupSmart<\/i> there was a possibility Apple may successfully pass the examination phase if they have used the term enough.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWith significant usage, there is a possibility it will pass the examination phase,\u201d Goldberg says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom the date the trademark is registered (after the opposition period), then using the word `start-up\u2019 as a prominent branding feature will be restricted and prevented by Apple.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If Apple passes the examination phase, Goldberg says anyone can oppose the application within a two month period.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnyone that feels they don\u2019t want this mark to become registered in Australia for these services can oppose this,\u201d Goldberg says.<\/p>\n

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He says it\u2019s likely that if Apple is successful, they will be proactive in enforcing their trademark.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBased on Apple\u2019s past behaviour with trademarks, especially for any version of the \u2018i\u2019 mark, they will strongly enforce their position.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn Australia there is a two-tier system, one is common law rights and the other is trademark rights. So if you\u2019re already using \u2018startup\u2019 as your brand, and you\u2019re not infringing someone else\u2019s trademark, then you should have rights to at least co-exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Goldberg adds people keen to oppose the trademark application will need to focus on meeting the opposition terms.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom a technical point of view, any one person can oppose, and there are criteria on which you oppose, and that can be enough. If it came from several different fronts, that would enhance the likelihood of the opposition being successful if they meet the terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Apple\u2019s Australian lawyers were not able to be immediately reached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple has lodged a trademark application for the term \u201cstartup\u201d in Australia.   The application covers a wide range of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44364"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}