1. THE PARTIES / EFFECTIVE DATE. This Agreement is made between Trademarkings Inc. (“Attorney”) and You (“Client”) and is effective as of the latest date of signing by Client.
2. LEGAL SERVICES PROVIDED, RESPONSIBILITIES OF ATTORNEY AND CLIENT. The Legal Services to be provided by Attorney to Client are outlined in detail for each corresponding trademark country on our pricing page trademarkings.com.au/pricing. All additional services are at an additional charge. Attorney will perform the Legal Services called for under this Agreement, keep Client informed of progress and developments, and respond promptly to Client’s inquiries and communications. Client will cooperate with Attorney, be available as requested, provide necessary declarations, promptly pay all fees and costs, and keep Attorney informed of client’s whereabouts and current street address, telephone number(s), fax number, and e-mail address at all times. Client understands that a trademark application must be reviewed by the relevant government prior to being accepted for registration, and may result in denial of the client’s trademark.
3. FEES.
How we charge: The Flat Fee for the Legal Services agreed to by the Attorney and Client is found on our pricing page (tmkings.com/pricing) and our services page trademarkings.com.au/services (“Pricelist”). If a task is not found on our Pricelist, or involves greater complexity, or requires additional tasks beyond the Pricelist, we will let you know the fees in advance for your acceptance. Attorney will only charge you for trademark or related work and will not charge you for normal incidentals such as copying, faxing, normal postage and the like.
Initial fees: The fees you pay when submitting our online forms relate to the specific service you selected, and may not include the total fees required to see your trademark through to registration. There may be unforeseen events in your matter, such as an objection from a government intellectual property office or the unlikely event of a third-party opposition, in which case further fees may be required for us to proceed or defend your matter (see below).
Examination fees: Every trademark application is examined by the relevant government intellectual property office to ensure it meets the requirements for registrability. Depending on which level of trademark package was purchased, if there are any issues raised during the examination of your application, we will forward the report with our advice (for free) and, if any substantial action is required, a fixed fee quote for you to approve.
Additional class fees: When applying for a trademark you are required to nominate which goods or services you want your trademark to cover. There are 45 official classes of goods and services, with a corresponding government fee (varies by jurisdiction) and our professional fee of USD$50 for every class after the first. However, to save our client’s fees, we draft precise trademark applications usually covering one or two classes. We indicate your main trade mark class, and if we think other classes could be important to you, we let you decide if you want to proceed in those extra classes. Additionally, in many jurisdictions certain specific goods or services are not found in the list of approved government goods or services and in such instances, we give you the option of paying an extra government fee (varies by jurisdiction) to specifically cover those goods or services.
Registration guarantee: If you select our “Value” or “All-Inclusive” trademark package, we offer our Registration guarantee. The guarantee is that if your trademark application is not accepted, even after Attorney has submitted responses, we will file a second amended application for free. Attorney cannot guarantee registration, as it is only the governing intellectual property office that ultimately determines registration. Our guarantee works such that if your trademark application is initially rejected by the Intellectual Property Office, we will work with the Examiner to determine what changes may be made in order to get the trademark accepted. If you agree to the changes we advise, we will file your amended trademark free of charge (but the Client pays government fees, if any). The trademark we advise is registerable may not be your trademark representation of choice.
Payment Timing, Interest for Late Payment, Foreign Bank Transactions, Credit Card Payments, Postage, Money-in-Transit: Most of our payments from you will be required upfront (and non-refundable). Otherwise, payment due date is listed on the invoice. Attorney will charge interest at the current rate fixed from time by applicable legislation for any amount outstanding 30 days after due. We charge for overseas postage and bank fees relating to overseas transfers. Government/official fees as well as foreign associate fees are held by us as money-in-transit only to be paid out as instructed by you, or if not required returned to you.
Refunds: Our fees are non-refundable, except if a refund is requested within 48 hours and no work has been undertaken. If any work whatsoever has been undertaken (such correspondences via email or drafting a trademark specification) we will provide a maximum of 50% refund on our fees. If what we consider in our complete discretion to be more than half of the work was completed, then the refund will be on a pro rata basis at our discretion.
4. COSTS AND EXPENSES. Government fees are in addition to the trademark package fees. Government fees vary by jurisdiction and the number of international classes for trademark application filings.
5. WORK PRODUCT: The writings, notes, memoranda, reports of conversations, research and confidential materials which we prepare will be maintained in strict confidence and under the provisions of the attorney-client privilege.
6. TERMINATION: As is appropriate in any professional relationship, You may terminate our engagement at any time upon reasonable notice to us, and we retain the right to terminate this agreement as well. In the event that our representation is terminated, You agree to pay all bills thereafter rendered covering expenses incurred prior to the termination.
7. ENTIRE AGREEMENT / SEVERABILITY. This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the Parties. No other agreement, statement, or promise made on or before the effective date of this Agreement will be binding on the Parties. If any provision of this Agreement is held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction, in whole or in part, to be unenforceable for any reason, the remainder of that provision and of the entire Agreement will be severable and remain in effect.
8. FORM OF SIGNATURES. This agreement may be executed by the parties in electronic counterparts. Your payment is a confirmation that you have read and agree to these terms and conditions.