10. Introduction

Date Published

As part of the examination of an application for registration of a trade mark, carried out under section 31, the Registrar must report on whether or not the application has been made in accordance with the Act. If the Registrar reasonably believes that the application has not been made in accordance with the Act or Regulations, the Registrar must report that belief in writing to the applicant (reg 4.8). If any reported deficiencies are not corrected, the application must be rejected under sub-section 33(3). As soon as possible after an application for registration of a trade mark is received, a check is made to ensure that the application meets minimum filing requirements which allow it to be taken as filed (reg 4.2). However, the check for compliance with minimum filing requirements does not cover all formality requirements which are dealt with later as part of the examination process.

The following are the formality matters which must be considered by the person carrying out the examination.