3.8. Other filing requirements

A discussion of the requirements that apply in general to the filing of any document at the Trade Marks Office is found in Part 2 of this Manual.

• Part 2 General Filing Requirements

The following points are made specifically with regard to applications for registration:

8.1 Reg 21.4 provides for the treatment of non complying documents.  Under this provision a non complying document can either be taken as not filed (paragraph 21.4(a)), or taken as filed but with the requirement that alterations be made so that it does comply (paragraph 21.4(b)).

8.2 Reg 4.2 sets out the circumstances, as discussed above, in which an application for registration will be taken as not filed.

8.3 There are, however, many other requirements set out in the Act and Regulations with which an application for registration must comply.  Where an application is found not to comply with these other requirements the application is still taken as filed. The applicant will be advised of these deficiencies when the application is examined.

8.4 Other instances of non compliance with minimum filing requirements will be advised as soon as practicable after filing.  Some are matters as to form which can be readily rectified.  Others are matters which have the potential to cause inconvenience to other users of the system.  In particular, the inclusion in an application of the expressions prohibited by subreg.4(2), being "all goods", "all services", "all other goods" and "all other services", would make it difficult for users to determine the scope of the monopoly claimed by the applicant.  In these circumstances, the Registrar will request the applicant to delete the expressions from the specification, but the applicant will not be permitted to replace the deleted expressions with additional goods or services.

8.5 Please note that the requirements for filing a TM Headstart request are covered in Regulation 3A.3 and are similar to the minimum filing requirements for a standard trade mark application.

• Part 10 Details of Formality Requirements - 5.2 Limitations on the specification​​​​​​​