IPRIA Working Paper Series
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Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia Working Paper No. 10/2003 The Protection of National Icons Under the Trade Marks Act 1995 by Owen J. Morgan Date: October 2003 Abstract: This paper provides a preliminary response to a question posed by the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property in their Issues Paper, Review of the Enforcement of Trade Marks (2002) – should national icons should be protected under the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) (the Act)? A national icon can be defined as any matter that carries messages about Australia that are understood and accepted by the majority of the Australian public. In considering whether extended trade mark protection for national icons is justified, the public interest in accessing a national icon must be balanced with the right of a specific person or group to restrict that access in order to preserve a ‘core message’ associated with the icon. It is also a matter of assessing the harm that might arise as a consequence of not providing extended protection. The absence of specific protection under the Act has not resulted in a level of harm that would justify further restriction on the public’s access to national icons. The Act should not be amended to provide further protection. In any case, the education system and the media might play a more important role than the legal system in influencing messages that attach to national icons. Downloads: PDF [460K] |
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