3.6 Removal

²⁵Under the Trade Marks Act 1953, a trade mark registration was not removed from the register for non-payment of the renewal fee until:

• the Commissioner had sent notice to the registered proprietor of the date of expiration of the trade mark and the conditions as to payment of fees and otherwise upon which renewal of registration may be obtained; and
• the time prescribed in the notice has expired and the conditions had not been duly complied with.²⁶

The notice under section 29(3) must have been sent not less than 3 months prior to the expiration of the registration. Regulation 54 of the Trade Marks Regulations 1954 provided that the Commissioner must advertise the non- payment of a renewal fee in the Patent Office Journal and, if payment of the fee were received in the period of one month after advertisement, the registration would be renewed.

The Trade Marks Regulations 1954 were revoked by regulation 165 of the Trade Marks Regulations 2003. Regulation 165 provides that despite the revocation of the Trade Marks Regulations 1954 they remain in force and apply in respect of the matters to which the Trade Marks Act 1953 remains in force under section 203 of the Trade Marks Act 2002.

Footnotes

²⁵ Practice Guideline Amendment 2003/3, Information For Clients, Issue 28: 30 September 2003

²⁶ See section 29 of the Trade Marks Act 1953.