5. Restoration of a trade mark

¹⁶Once a trade mark has been removed from the register for non-payment of the renewal fee, the owner of the mark may apply to restore the mark within 12 months of the expiry of the trade mark.¹⁷

An application to restore an expired trade mark may be made by the owner by submitting an application for renewal of the trade mark registration and the prescribed renewal fee.

Therefore, an application for the restoration of a trade mark registration must contain the following information:¹⁸

• The trade mark registration number;
• The owner’s name and address for service;
• Where the owner has an agent, the agent’s name;
• The name and communication address of the person paying the renewal fee; and
• If the trade mark was registered in more than one class, details of the class or classes for which registration is to be renewed.

Where a renewal fee for a lapsed trade mark is paid within 12 months of the date of expiration, the trade mark will be restored and a filing receipt issued. Where the application for the restoration of a trade mark registration is outside the 12-month period, IPONZ will decline the application and refund the fee.

While IPONZ issues a filing receipt for the fee paid, a letter confirming the restoration of the trade mark will not be issued regardless of whether the mark was renewed manually or via the online facility.

Footnotes

¹⁶ Paragraph 5 of this Guideline was updated on 28 March 2007 by deletion of sub-paragraph 5.1 (included in sub-paragraph 8 of Guideline on Relative Grounds: Identical or Similar Trade Marks)

¹⁷See regulation 134 of the Trade Marks Regulations 2003.

¹⁸ See regulation 133 of the Trade Marks Regulations 2003.