Someone has trade marked my business name: what now?

Look the mark up on Australian Trade Mark Search. It's free, and you can search by the words or by the owner's name. Every record shows a status. Pending ones are still applications, and registered ones have made it onto the register. You'll also see records that were refused, removed or never registered. Those aren't on the register.

For a pending application, the date that matters is when its acceptance was advertised. That's what starts the opposition clock, not the filing date.

Yes. Registering a business name lets you trade under it, and it stops anyone else registering an identical or nearly identical business name. That's where it ends. ASIC's own page says only a trade mark gives exclusive rights, and IP Australia's IP First Response says the same about company names. So a business name, an ABN or a company name sitting on another register doesn't block a trade mark application for the same words. Our guide to business names, ABNs and trade marks covers what each one does.

An application moves through IP Australia in a set order, and the window only opens near the end.

1. The application is filed. IP Australia usually examines it 3 to 4 months after the filing date.
2. If the examiner accepts it, IP Australia advertises the acceptance.
3. From the advertisement, anyone has two months to file a notice of intention to oppose. The fee is $250, and an extension of time to file it is $150 a month.
4. The opponent then has one month to file a statement of grounds and particulars, which sets out the reasons.
5. The applicant has one month from receiving that to file a notice of intention to defend. If they don't, the application lapses.

IP Australia describes the reasons people oppose in broad terms: the mark is too similar to their own, or the applicant isn't the true owner. If the applicant defends, the matter moves to evidence and possibly a hearing. Our guide on how to oppose a trade mark goes through each stage, its deadline and its fee.

Timing is where people get caught out. In our records, applications filed between October and December 2024 that went on to be advertised were typically advertised 152 days after filing, with half of them between 151 and 154 days. So for most applications the window runs from roughly five months to seven months after the filing date. Find out about the application a year after it was filed and the window has usually closed.

It's also a busy register. In our records, about 6,200 applications a month had their acceptance advertised in the 12 months to 27 September 2026, each one opening its own two-month window.

By the time a mark is registered, the two-month opposition window has closed. The main route IP Australia describes for a registered mark is a request to remove it for non-use.

A removal request can be based on the owner not having used the mark for some or all of its goods and services for 3 years, never having intended to use it, or not having used it in good faith. For marks filed on or after 24 February 2019, a request based on non-use can be made once 3 years have passed since the mark's details were entered on the register. For marks filed earlier, it's 5 years from the filing date. A request on the ground that the owner never intended to use the mark can be made at any time after it was filed.

The fee is $350. The owner is told about the request within a month of it being filed, and anyone can oppose the removal within two months of it being published. If no one does and the request is in order, the mark comes off the register, either completely or for the goods and services named.

IP Australia says it received about 1,000 to 1,500 of these requests a year over 2019 to 2024, and that about 60% don't become contested, since owners who genuinely aren't using a mark usually don't fight it. When a removal is opposed, IP Australia says it typically takes at least 6 to 12 months, and longer if it goes to a hearing or an appeal.

That depends on facts this guide can't weigh up, but a few points from the regulators are clear. ASIC's page warns that registering a business name that's someone else's registered trade mark may lead to legal problems. IP Australia says a registered trade mark gives its owner exclusive rights, nationwide, to use the mark for the goods and services it's registered for, and lets them take legal action over its unauthorised use.

Earlier use counts for something. IP Australia's plain-English breakdown of names and trade marks puts it this way: prior use can help, but it's not a substitute for registering a trade mark, and proving it can be slow and expensive.

Can someone else use my business name?

Registering a business name only stops identical or nearly identical business names being registered. IP Australia notes that other people can register or use a similar business name. Of all the registers, only the trade marks register gives exclusive rights to a name.

How do I find out if my business name is trade marked?

Search the name on Australian Trade Mark Search, which covers registered marks and pending applications. Try spelling variations too, and search by the other business's name if you know it. Our guide on checking whether a trade mark is already taken has the full method.

Someone is trying to trade mark my business name. When can I object?

The formal step is a notice of intention to oppose, filed within two months of the acceptance being advertised. Before the advertisement there's nothing to oppose yet, and after the two months the window has closed.

How much does it cost to challenge a trade mark?

IP Australia's fee for a notice of intention to oppose is $250, and a non-use removal request is $350. Hearings cost more: $500 for a hearing by written submissions and $700 a day for an oral hearing.

How long does a non-use removal take?

If no one opposes it, the mark is removed after the two-month opposition period. If it's opposed, IP Australia says the process typically takes at least 6 to 12 months.

• How to challenge someone else's IP (IP Australia)
• Opposition and objection fees (IP Australia)
• How to respond to an opposition (IP Australia)
• Trade mark timeframes and fees (IP Australia)
• Request IP Australia remove an unused trade mark (IP Australia, IP First Response)
• Is my business name my IP? (IP Australia, IP First Response)
• A simple breakdown of names and trade marks (IP Australia, IP First Response)
• Business names and trade marks (ASIC)
• Australian Trade Mark Search (IP Australia)
• CopyCatcher's own figures: IP Australia's IP RAPID data for applications filed from 27 September 2024 to 27 September 2026, as held on 5 October 2026.