EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1983 NO. 312
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Science and Technology
The purpose of these amendments to the Trade Marks Regulations is to prescribe “MEDICARE” as a prohibited mark, and to amend the Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks in accordance with the changes made by the Committee of Experts under the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services. Details of the proposed amendments are set out below.
Regulation 1 sets a date of commencement of 1 January 1984 for regulations 3, 5 and 7, which concern the classification of goods and services. The regulations concerning “MEDICARE” will come into effect from the date of notification in the Gazette.
Regulation 2 defines the Principal Regulations as the Trade Marks Regulations.
Regulation 3 amends regulation 6 by Including a reference to Part I and Part II of the Fourth Schedule. The new Fourth Schedule (amended by regulation 5) is divided into Classes of Goods (Part I) and Classes of Services (Part II).
Regulation 4 amends sub-regulation 13(2). The effect is that use as a trade mark of a mark specified in Part II of the Fifth Schedule will be prohibited from the date of coming into force of the regulations which included the specified mark in Part II.
Regulation 5 repeals the Fourth Schedule in the Regulations and substitutes a new Fourth Schedule. The effect is to incorporate into the regulations the amended Classification of Goods and Services.
Regulation 6 amends the Fifth Schedule by inserting the word “MEDICARE” in Part II of the Schedule. The effect is that “MEDICARE” will be a prohibited mark for the purposes of paragraph 29(1)(h) of the Act and its use (except where the word has previously been registered as a trade mark or used in good faith as a trade mark) will be prohibited, after regulations 4 and 6 come into force. Paragraph 29(1)(h) of the Act provides that the Registrar may refuse to accept an application for the registration of a trade mark which contains or consists of a mark, or a mark so nearly resembling such a mark as to be likely to be taken for that mark, which is specified in the regulations as being, for the purposes of the section, a prohibited mark.
Regulation 7 is a transitional provision.
With regard to the amendments dealing with “MEDICARE”, consultations have taken place with the Department of Health and the Attorney-General’s Department.
The proposal to amend the Fourth Schedule was notified in the Australian Official Journal of Patents, Trade Marks and Designs and submissions on the changes were invited from interested persons.