5.3 Absolute grounds preventing registration

The Commissioner must be satisfied that there are no absolute grounds that would prevent the registration of a certification mark.²³ The absolute grounds for not registering a certification mark are set out in sections 17 to 21 of the Act and concern the nature of the mark itself, the marks ability to distinguish goods and/or services being of a particular origin, material, mode of manufacture, quality, accuracy, performance, or other characteristics, and other public policy considerations.

An application to register a certification mark is examined in the same way as a standard trade mark in order to determine whether it complies with the absolute grounds of refusal in the Act. For more information on absolute grounds that would prevent the registration of a certification mark, please refer to the following Practice Guidelines:

• Absolute Grounds: General
• Absolute Grounds: Distinctiveness
• Absolute Grounds: Chemical Names

Footnote

²³ See section 208(3)(a) of the Trade Marks Act 2002.