Supporting Madrid Protocol Trade Mark Applications in Australia and New Zealand

When managing Madrid Protocol trade mark applications designating Australia or New Zealand, maintaining compliance with local procedural requirements is an important part of ensuring matters progress smoothly and efficiently.

One requirement that is sometimes overlooked is that, under both Australian and New Zealand trade mark law, Madrid Protocol applications and registrations designating Australia or New Zealand are required to maintain a valid address for service within the relevant jurisdiction. This enables official correspondence, examination reports, notices, and other communications from the national IP office to be properly received and managed.

At Wynnes Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, we provide a complimentary address for service offering for Madrid Protocol trade mark applications and registrations designating Australia and/or New Zealand.

This service is available both for newly filed Madrid Protocol designations and for matters that have already proceeded to registration. In many cases, entities based overseas wish to ensure that existing registrations remain fully compliant with local requirements by appointing a local address for service after registration has been completed.

As part of this service, Wynnes acts as the nominated local address for service and receives official correspondence issued by IP Australia or the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand. We then issue prompt notifications of any developments relating to the application or registration.

Where an adverse examination report or other official objection is issued, we are also able to assist in preparing and filing an appropriate response on a professional fee basis. Our attorneys have extensive experience handling Australian and New Zealand trade mark prosecution matters, including objections relating to descriptiveness, distinctiveness, conflicting rights, classification issues, and procedural requirements.

Importantly, there is no obligation attached to our complimentary address for service offering. We provide the service as a practical goodwill gesture to support cooperation and to assist with the efficient management of Australian and New Zealand trade mark matters.

We have found that having a trusted local firm available to monitor official correspondence and assist when needed, particularly where time-sensitive examination issues arise or local strategic advice is beneficial for foreign clients.

In addition to trade mark prosecution, our team regularly assists international associates and clients across a broad range of intellectual property matters in Australia and New Zealand, including patents, designs, oppositions, enforcement matters, and IP portfolio management.

Our goal is to provide responsive, practical, and commercially focused assistance while building and maintaining strong long-term relationships with our overseas associates.