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Guided answer
My brand conflicts with an earlier mark. What are my options?
Relative grounds for refusal turn on how similar the marks and goods are, how well known the earlier mark is and whether the earlier owner agrees.
Honest concurrent use may justify registration.
Moderate complexity - several routes or missing facts
- Section 12 lets the Registrar permit registration of identical or similar marks for the same or similar goods or services by more than one proprietor where there is honest concurrent use or other special circumstances, subject to conditions.
- Gather dated evidence of your own use and of the other party's use, and show that you adopted your mark honestly.
- Expect conditions such as limits on goods, territories or manner of use.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.