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Trademark Lawyer Sydney Turns to for Brand Protection That Holds Up
If you’re here googling “trademark lawyer Sydney,” you’re probably dealing with an IP Australia objection you don’t know how to answer, a competitor trying to copy your brand, or an application you’re not confident will survive examination. Get it wrong and you’re rebranding from scratch while someone else owns the name you built your business on.
This is where experienced trademark lawyers can make a difference. At Lazarus Legal, we’ve registered 500+ trademarks, overturned 70% of IP Australia refusals, and recovered over $10 million shutting down copycats. We secure your mark before competitors file and make sure it holds up when tested.
Why Work With a Trademark Lawyer in Sydney
Protect Your Brand With Lazarus Legal
Who's Filing Your Trademark
Led by Mark Lazarus, former Legal Director at Monster Energy, a brand built entirely on trademark protection and enforcement. We’ve registered 500+ trade marks for Australian businesses and recovered over $10 million through infringement proceedings. Every application is filed by senior lawyers who’ve successfully overturned adverse examination reports that shut down unrepresented applicants.
With Lazarus Legal, you get a trademark that survives IP Australia examination and prevents competitors from registering similar marks. You get enforcement protocols: cease and desist letters for minor infringements, Federal Court proceedings when someone’s genuinely ripping off your brand. You don’t waste money developing brands you can’t protect.
Register It Right, Or Lose It Completely
Protect your brand before someone else takes it
Everything you need to know about how trademarks work, compiled by our team of trademark lawyer Sydney trusts.
What Our Trademark Lawyers Oversee
A trademark lawyer Sydney businesses can trust must be equipped to handle everything trademarks require: registration, IP Australia objections, enforcement proceedings, and portfolio management.
Trademark Registration and Clearance Searches
We search federal registers, pending applications, business names, and common law usage before filing. This catches conflicts your ASIC business name search missed. We file applications with class descriptions that maximize protection without triggering unnecessary examiner objections.
Adverse Examination Report Responses
IP Australia rejects 40% of applications during examination for similarity conflicts, descriptiveness, or public interest concerns. Most DIY filers receive final refusals and lose their filing fees. We respond with technical legal arguments citing case law precedents and statutory interpretation.
Trademark Enforcement and Infringement Proceedings
When competitors copy your branding, we send cease and desist letters for minor infringements and pursue Federal Court proceedings when someone's genuinely ripping off your mark. Proportionate responses matter as Federal Court threats for domain disputes destroy commercial relationships unnecessarily.
Opposition Defence and Portfolio Monitoring
IP Australia publishes new applications weekly. If someone files a confusingly similar mark, you have two months to oppose before needing expensive Federal Court cancellation proceedings. We establish monitoring protocols that identify conflicts during opposition windows and defend your registrations when third parties file objections against your marks.
We are thrilled with Lazarus Legal’s services! They successfully secured two trademarks for our business and effectively handled our debt collection matters. Their professionalism, expertise, and prompt communication made the entire process smooth and stress-free. Highly recommended!
We had a great experience working with Lazarus on our trademark applications. The team was knowledgeable, responsive, and made the process straightforward from start to finish. Would recommend to any business looking for IP support.
We’ve worked with Lazarus Legal on several matters and couldn’t be happier with the professionalism, clarity, and strategic support they’ve provided throughout. Most notably, they guided us through a complex trademark application, offering expert insight and genuine commitment to getting the outcome we needed. Read more.
- Ready when you are
Let's Get That Trademark Sorted
Schedule a consultation with a trademark lawyer Sydney entrepreneurs call when rejection looms or copycats strike.
Initial consultation focuses on your situation, risks, and solutions.
You get specific advice and clear recommendations protecting interests while achieving objectives.
Other Brand Protection Services You'll Need
Hiring staff or contractors? Our Agreements Lawyer service drafts IP assignment clauses and confidentiality terms that prevent employees from walking out with your brand assets, customer lists, or trade secrets when they leave.
Licensing your brand to franchisees or distributors? Our Commercial Lawyer team structures licensing agreements that maintain quality control standards while protecting your exclusive trademark rights across territories.
Launching or scaling your brand? Our Startup Lawyer service handles founder IP assignment, equity documentation, and brand protection strategies that prevent co-founder disputes over who actually owns your trademark.
Your Questions Answered by a Trademark Lawyer Sydney Trusts
How much does trademark registration actually cost in Sydney?
IP Australia charges $250-$400 per class for standard applications. Legal fees for search, preparation, and filing typically run $1,500-$3,000 plus GST for straightforward single-class marks. The cost variable emerges when IP Australia issues adverse examination reports. DIY filers attempting responses without legal training frequently receive final refusals, wasting the original filing fees completely. You’re not paying for form-filling. You’re paying for a trademark lawyer, someone who knows how to argue when examiners say no.
At Lazarus Legal, clients receive fixed-fee quotes covering initial filing and first-round examiner responses, with additional response work quoted separately if complex objections arise requiring detailed legal arguments or evidence submissions.
What's the difference between business name registration and federal trademark registration?
Business name registration through ASIC is administrative. It registers your trading name on a public directory. It creates zero exclusive rights. Two companies in different states can register identical business names legally because the system doesn’t assess conflicts or grant monopolies.
Federal trademark registration through IP Australia creates enforceable exclusive rights across Australia. You can prevent competitors from using identical or confusingly similar marks in related business categories. That distinction determines whether you can send cease and desist letters or pursue Federal Court remedies when competitors copy your branding.
Business name registration provides no legal basis for infringement proceedings. Registered trademarks create statutory grounds for injunctions and damages.
How long does trademark registration actually take in Australia?
Seven to twelve months from filing to registration, assuming no objections or oppositions. IP Australia conducts formalities examination within 1-2 months, followed by substantive examination assessing registrability against absolute and relative grounds for refusal. If examiners identify conflicts with existing marks, descriptiveness concerns, or public interest issues, they issue adverse reports requiring responses within two months. Failure to respond results in automatic abandonment, meaning your application dies and you lose your filing fees.
After clearing examination, marks are published in the Australian Official Journal of Trade Marks for a two-month opposition period where third parties can object. Opposition proceedings extend timelines substantially, often adding 12-18 months when contested through hearings before IP Australia delegates. Expedited examination is available for applicants demonstrating infringement concerns or imminent product launches, typically reducing timelines to 3-4 months for urgent matters. Once registered, trademarks remain valid for 10 years with unlimited renewal periods available on payment of renewal fees.
Should I file my trademark application myself without a lawyer?
You can file directly with IP Australia. The online system accepts applications from anyone claiming legitimate use or intent to use the mark.
The risk emerges during examination when IP Australia issues adverse reports objecting on technical grounds including similarity to existing marks, descriptiveness, deceptiveness, scandalousness, or public interest concerns under sections 41, 42, 43, or 60 of the Trade Marks Act 1995. These objections require legal arguments referencing binding case law precedents, statutory interpretation principles, and examiner guidelines published in IP Australia’s Trade Marks Manual of Practice and Procedure.
Non-lawyers typically cannot navigate these technical requirements effectively. Our analysis of Sydney-based DIY trademark applications shows approximately 60% receive adverse reports, with fewer than 30% of unrepresented applicants successfully overturning initial refusals through legally sufficient responses. Failed applications result in lost filing fees ($250-$400 per class) plus wasted time during which competitors can file conflicting applications into the same classes. Additionally, poorly drafted applications often receive registration in narrower scopes than optimal commercial protection requires, reducing enforceability against similar marks operating in adjacent categories.
What happens if someone's already using my proposed trademark in Sydney?
Prior use of an identical or confusingly similar trademark by another business can prevent your registration or create infringement liability depending on timing, geography, registration status, and trademark class overlap.
If the prior user holds registered federal trademark rights, IP Australia will likely refuse your application during examination unless you operate in sufficiently different business categories to avoid consumer confusion under section 44 of the Trade Marks Act 1995. If the prior user operates based on common law rights without federal registration, outcomes depend on their geographic trading reach, marketplace reputation, and continuous usage duration.
Common law rights remain enforceable within the territory where reputation exists but do not automatically prevent registration by first-to-file applicants in other regions under Australia’s registration-based system. For Sydney businesses, this means a Melbourne company using your proposed mark without federal registration cannot block your NSW application unless they demonstrate substantial Sydney trading presence and consumer recognition through evidence. However, filing trademarks you know conflict with established brands creates bad faith grounds for cancellation proceedings under section 62A and exposes you to infringement damages claims in Federal Court.