Chapter 4: Trade marks

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In 2023, trade mark filings in Australia returned to growth, rising 7.2% on their level in 2022, driven by a 9.8% increase in resident filings. Trade mark filings reflect entrepreneurial activity, and Australia’s business entry rate recovered in 2023 from a sharp fall in late 2022, in seasonally adjusted terms. Trade mark filings for technology-intensive services fell, as filings from the United States (US) declined, while overall filings from China rose by 51.2%.

Trade marks help consumers distinguish the origin of goods and services in the market. By helping businesses to protect their brands, they also enable them to differentiate and earn a return on investments in quality.

The number of trade mark applications filed in Australia has rapidly increased over time, from an average 4,800 applications in the 1970s, to over 84,000 applications in 2023.

Trade mark applications in Australia grew strongly in 2023, up 7% on their 2022 level, driven by a 10% increase in resident filings.

A drop in trade mark filings from the US led to reduced filings across several technology-intensive classes. Applications also fell from Germany and the United Kingdom, which are major origins of new trade marks.

Trade mark filings from China have increased by 51% in 2023, following flat growth from 2018. Applications from China still account for a small share of total Australian filings, around 10%, compared to over 29% from US filings.

For exporters, trade marks are an important ticket to enter and compete in foreign markets. Research by IP Australia shows that after filings trade marks in an export market, Australian manufacturers tend to expand and diversify their exports overseas.

What is a trade mark?

A trade mark is a type of IP right which distinguishes the trade origin of goods or services in the market. A registered trade mark confers its owner with the exclusive right to use the mark, or authorise others to use it, and seek relief if the trade mark is infringed.1 To be registrable, a trade mark must be sufficiently distinctive and not confusingly similar to any earlier marks. Registered trade marks enjoy protections under trade mark law which are often easier to enforce than protections available to unregistered trade mark owners.

Trade mark applications and registrations

In 2023, trade mark applications filed in Australia increased by 7.2% on their level in 2022, to 84,476 (see Figure 2.1). The total for 2023 is exceeded only by the record filing volume in 2021. Resident applications grew by 9.8% (to 49,036) and non-resident applications grew by 3.7% (to 35,440). Trade mark filings by residents comprise 58.0% of total annual filings.

Trade mark registrations fell by 9.9%, to 62,825 in total, down from the record level in 2021 and slightly smaller volume in 2022. Similar proportional rates of change were observed for registrations by residents (–10.9% to 33,983) and non-residents (–8.6% to 28,842).

Figure 4.1 Trade mark applications and registrations filed in Australia, 2012 to 2023

Trade mark filings are a leading economic indicator, providing an early indication of significant turning points in the business cycle and where the economy is heading in the near term. A new IP Australia study estimates that a 1% increase in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is linked to a 1.4% increase in trade mark filings.2

From the same study, Figure 4.2 charts the number of trade mark applications filed in Australia each quarter from 1970 to 2023. Filings per quarter have generally exhibited an upward trend over the past 5 decades, accounting for seasonal patterns over time. On average, in the 1970s, around 1,200 applications were filed per quarter, amounting to 4,800 applications per year. By the 2010s, more than 17,000 applications were filed per quarter, totalling over 68,000 applications a year.

Trade mark filings have experienced significant fluctuations during key economic downturns including Australia’s early 1990s recession, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. Resident filings fluctuated more strongly than non-resident filings during these periods.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a significant increase in trade mark filings in 2020 and 2021, which were counter-cyclical, followed by a correction in 2022. In 2023, trade mark filings increased despite growth in the Australian economy slowing over the first half of the year. However, final demand growth remained around its pre-pandemic average and business investment was strong, as supply disruptions being unwound to a large pipeline of work.3

Figure 4.2 Quarterly volume of trade mark applications filed in Australia, Q1 1970 to Q3 2023

Trade mark classes

Trade mark applications are assigned to good and service categories using the Nice Classification, an international system of 45 good and service classes.4 Applicants can nominate one or several classes for their trade marks – on average, applicants filed 1.83 classes per application in 2023, amounting to 153,852 total class filings.

Trade mark filing activity is concentrated in a variety of goods and service categories. High-tech manufacturing industries are heavy filers of trade marks, as are information-intensive services (e.g., advertising and education, see Figure 4.3).

In 2023, trade mark filings fell across several technology-intensive classes – by 4.7% for technological and electrical apparatus (to 15,187) and by 4.6% for scientific and technological services (to 11,213). The decline was underpinned by a reduction in filings from the US, which is the lead origin behind Australia for filings in these classes.

After an initial surge in 2022, applications remain elevated for virtual goods, such as non-fungible tokens and services related to virtual environments where users interact (e.g., the ‘metaverse’). In 2023, IP Australia released new guidance for trade mark applicants on how to classify mark goods and services that relate to emerging technologies, in anticipation of an update to the Nice Classification system.

Figure 4.3 Top five trade mark classes for volume of trade mark filings in 2023, and high-volume classes with the greatest relative growth and decline in 20235

Prior studies link trade mark trends to changes in real household income.6 Through the year to November 2023, household spending in Australia grew by 3.1%, with the growth concentrated in services (+6.2%). Across spending categories, the largest increases were in transport (+8.3%), health (+7.8%) and hotels, cafes and restaurants (+5.8%), reports the Australian Bureau of Statistics.7 Consistent with these trends, trade mark filings increased in food-related product and service categories. These include Household or kitchen utensils and containers (+14.1%, to 3,342) and Food, drink and temporary accommodation services (+9.4%, to 3,822).

International trade mark activity in Australia

Filing routes into Australia

For businesses, trade mark registrations are an important ‘entry ticket’ into competing in overseas markets and help exporters to differentiate their goods and services from competitors.8

Taking IP global: the Madrid system

Brand owners can directly file for trade marks with IP offices in the countries and regions where they seek protection or file an international application through the Madrid system. The Madrid route provides a streamlined way for applicants to file an international trade mark application and seek protection in multiple jurisdictions.

In 2023 Madrid filings in Australia fell by 5.3% from their level the year prior (to 18,557), while direct filings increased by 11.3% (to 65,919). Over the past decade, a steadily increasing share of new trade marks in Australia have been filed via the Madrid system – 22.0% in 2023 compared to 17.8% in 2014 (see Figure 4.4).

On average, for applications filed in Australia through the Madrid system, there is a 3.5-month delay between the international application’s earliest filing date and when the application is received by IP Australia. Consequently, Madrid filings in 2023 reflect international IP activity in 2022 and 2023.

Figure 4.4 Trade mark applications in Australia by filing route, 2014 to 2023

Locations of origin

The leading overseas locations of origin for trade mark filings in Australia are the United States (11.3% of total applications in 2023, China (9.8%), the United Kingdom (3.0%), Germany (1.9%) and New Zealand (1.5%), as shown in Figure 4.5.

Among ‘high volume’ locations, China saw the strongest filings growth in 2023. Trade mark applications naming Chinese residents increased by 51.2% between 2022 and 2023, from 5,486 to 8,295, and now account for 9.85% of total filings. The key driver of growth was filings for household or kitchen utensils and containers, which nearly doubled from 405 in 2022 to 815 in 2023.Applications fell in 2023 for 3 of the other 4 leading locations of origin. The largest relative decline was in applications from Germany (–13.1%, to 1,599), followed by the United States (–10.5%, to 9,513) and the United Kingdom (–7.7%, to 2,516).

For growth in applications, China was followed by Cyprus, filings from which spiked by 30.9% above their 2022 level (from 81 to 106). This follows 3 years of consecutive growth between 2020 and 2022. On 12 June 2020, Cyprus overhauled its trade mark laws to simplify and accelerate application proceedings and harmonise its trade mark law with European standards.

Figure 4.5 Leading locations of origin for trade mark filings in 2023, and high-volume locations with the greatest relative growth or decline in 20239

Other jurisdictions such as the United States have experienced rapid increases in trade mark filings from China over the last decade. Between 2017 and 2021, China’s share of US trade mark filings tripled from 10% to 29%. A study of 365 Chinese-origin applications for apparel trade marks at the USPTO in 2017 found that 44.4% involve a word “that is unpronounceable in English and that the applicant indicated has no meaning in any other language”10.

IP Australia undertakes daily scans of Australia’s trade mark register for marks comprised of random collection of letters. IP Australia also has rigorous processes for identifying and managing fraudulent filings. At present, most marks of this type meet minimum filing requirements, have a high acceptance rate and many appear linked to genuine use. For example, such marks are sometimes used to sell in online marketplaces inexpensive everyday items for which consumers do not have strong brand loyalty.

Domestic trade mark activity in Australia

The domestic trade mark environment

Trade mark applications filed by Australian residents grew by 9.8% in 2023, to 49,036 in total (Figure 4.6). Resident filings have rebounded from a 16.3% decline in 2022. Today, they sit below their record levels during the first years of the COVID-19 shock but above the pre-pandemic trend from 2015 to 2019. 

Figure 4.6 Trade mark applications in Australia by domicile, 2014 to 2023

Trade mark filing activity is linked to the level of opportunistic entrepreneurship in a country – to start-up activity directed at creating high-growth businesses.11  Businesses will often use trade marks to announce the introduction of new products and services to the market.12 Given this role, in Australia, domestic trade mark filings are concentrated in advertising (11.0% of resident applications), education, training and entertainment (9.2%), and technological and electrical apparatus and equipment (7.1%).

In 2023, the growth in resident filings coincided with a recovery in Australia’s business entry rate. During 2022, the total count of businesses operating in Australia dropped, by 0.3% from the June to December quarters after adjusting for seasonal patterns. This decline in total businesses was counter to the long-term trend and underpinned by a fall in Australia’s business entry rate, from 5.41% to 4.58% in late 2022. A low entry rate held through the first half of 2023 before recovering to 5.44% in the 2023 September quarter.13

In 2023, small and medium enterprise (SMEs) accounted for 73.7% of all resident trade mark filings. Individuals accounted for 25.5% of resident filings. The share of employing SMEs operating in Australia that hold a trade mark increased between 2022 and 2023, from 4.12% to 4.38%.14

TM Checker

In 2023, IP Australia piloted a new digital self-service product, TM Checker, to increase the ease and efficiency of applying for trade marks. The product makes it easier for novice users (e.g., self-filers or SMEs) to check whether their ideas for trade marks are similar to existing registered marks. The tool uses AI technologies to provide information to users on common issues they might face during the application process and guides them to complete the process.

In the second half of 2023 there were over 58,000 checks performed using the product, which resulted in 3,300 TM Headstart applications submitted via the tool.

TM Checker also supports IP Australia to meet our demand for public education and awareness on the use (and limits) of trade marks. We have formed partnerships with other outlets for new businesses, such as domain registration websites, who link to our product. These partnerships are aimed at ensuring that business owners can check whether their trade mark is registrable as they set up their business.

States and territories

Among Australian states and territories, New South Wales (NSW) is the leading source for resident trade mark applications in Australia, followed by Victoria and Queensland. However, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was the most trade mark-intensive in 2023, with 47.47 applications per thousand businesses in the territory (compared to 42.64 in Victoria and 41.94 in New South Wales). In 2023, application volumes increased in all states and territories on their levels in 2022 (Figure 4.7).

Figure 4.7 Trade mark applications by Australian states and territories, 2023

Source: IP Australia; ABS. Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, August 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

Leading applicants

International filers

In 2023, the top international filers for trade marks in Australia were led by major multinational pharmaceutical and personal care companies.

Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Novartis AG filed 107 applications, followed by French cosmetics producer L'Oréal, with 98 applications. After leading in 2021 and 2022, the British biopharmaceutical company Glaxo Group Limited slipped to eighth place. Its filings more than halved between 2022 and 2023.

In third place, a new entrant into the list of top international filers was Lidl Stiftung & Co KG, a major European discount supermarket chain. The company announced plans for expansion into Australia in 2019 then pulled back from these plans in 2020.15

Figure 4.8 Top domestic and international applicants for trade marks in Australia, 2023

Domestic filers

The leading domestic trade mark filer was gaming machine producer Aristocrat Technologies, with 91 applications, down 16.5% from the company’s filings in 2022. Cost of living pressures, new international restrictions on Casino and gaming machine operators and tougher gaming laws have contributed to softer market conditions for Australia’s gaming sector.16

A new entrant into Australia’s lead trade mark filers, Cannatrek ranked second. The company is an Australian-owned licensed grower and supplier of medicinal cannabis products. It was established in 2016 after the Australian government legislated to allow the cultivation and use of medicinal cannabis. Cannatrek is reported to have doubled its revenue from $41.9 million in 2021-22 to $90 million in 2022-23.17

Australian filings overseas

In 2022, Australians filed 20,685 trade mark applications abroad, down 10.3% on their level in 2022. This represents a correction from the 11.9% increase that year.18 Total trade mark classes filed by Australians abroad fell by 14.5% to 48,291 in total.

The leading destination markets for Australian trade mark filings are the United States, New Zealand, China, the United Kingdom and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), as shown in Figure 4.9. These destinations were followed by Canada, Singapore, Japan, India, the Republic of Korea and Indonesia. Applications by Australians to each of these locations fell in 2022 from their level in 2021, as global growth moderated.

Figure 4.9 Leading destinations for Australian trade mark applications (class count), 2022

Source: WIPO IP Statistics Database

Among ‘high volume’ destinations, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) saw the strongest growth in Australian filings abroad for the second year running.19 In 2022 Australian class filings in the UAE grew to 1.56 times their level of the previous year, from 189 to 484. This follows the UAE government agreeing to join the Madrid system from 28 December 2021 and revamping its trade mark laws in March 2022 to provide for more effective brand enforcement. On 13 December 2023, Australia and the UAE announced the commencement of negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement to lay the groundwork for closer economic ties.

Trade mark applicants can obtain protection for their marks in multiple countries by filing a single international registration via the Madrid system. As of February 2023, 130 countries were members of the Madrid system, representing more than 80% of world trade. As the system has expanded to cover more countries, the share of Australian classes filed abroad via Madrid has increased, from 45.54% in 2018 to 58.69% in 2022.

  1. Trade marks can be renewed every 10 years in perpetuity, on the basis that the need to prevent consumer confusion does not lessen over time.
  2. Nguyen, K. & Yoo, Y. R. (forthcoming). Evaluating trade marks as a leading economic indicator of the Australian business cycle. IP Australia Analytical Note.
  3. Reserve Bank of Australia. (2023). Statement on Monetary Policy: November 2023. Statement on Monetary Policy – November 2023 | RBA.
  4. For more information, see https://www.wipo.int/classifications/nice/en/.
  5. High volume classes are defined as classes in the top quartile for total number of applications received in 2023.
  6. For example, see Jensen, P. H. & Webster, E. (2011). Patterns of trademarking activity in Australia [Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 2/04]. Australian intellectual Property Journal, 15.
  7. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2024, 12 January). Monthly household spending indicator: Experimental indicator of household spending using bank transactions data. Monthly Household Spending Indicator, November 2023 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au).
  8. Barroso, A., Giarratana, M. S. & Pasquini, M. (2019). Product portfolio performance in new foreign markets: The EU trademark dual system. Research Policy, 48, 11–21.
  9. High volume locations are defined as those above the mean for total applications received in 2023.
  10. Beebe, B. & Fromer, J. C. (2020), Fake Trademark Specimens: An Empirical Analysis, 120 Colum. L. Rev. F. (217), 218–20.
  11. See Lyalkov, S., Carmona, M., Congregado, E., Millán, E. & Millán, J. M. (2019). Trademarks and their association with Kirznerian entrepreneurs. Industry and Innovation, 27(1–2), 1–10.
  12. Nathan, M. & Russo, A. (2022). Innovative events: Product launches, innovation and firm performance. Research Policy, 51(1), Article 104373.
  13. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2023, 22 August). Counts of Australian businesses, including entries and exits. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/business-indicators/counts-australian-businesses-including-entries-and-exits/latest-release.
  14. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2023, 22 August). Counts of Australian businesses, including entries and exits. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/business-indicators/counts-australian-businesses-including-entries-and-exits/latest-release.
  15. Paranavitane, V. (2023, 22 December). Top 3 UK trade mark cases of 2023. World IP Review. https://www.worldipreview.com/article/top-3-uk-trademark-cases-of-2023.
  16. Samios, Z. (2023, 12 November). Aristocrat’s investors aren’t spooked by casino, bookie headwinds. Australian Financial Review. ALL ASX: Aristocrat’s investors aren’t spooked by casino, bookie headwinds (afr.com).
  17. Evans, S. (2023, 29 November). Fast 100: This company doubled its revenue on medicinal cannabis demand. Australian Financial Review. Cannatrek medicinal cannabis group has doubled revenues to more than $90 million and boss Tommy Huppert says demand is on the rise. (afr.com).
  18. WIPO IP Statistics Database.
  19. High volume destinations are defined as those in the top quartile of locations for total class filings in 2022.
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