BRISBANE STARTUP'S VISION FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

GOVERNMENT agency IP Australia has teamed up with a Brisbane-based startup to redesign its intellectual property rights search engine.

TrademarkVision will redevelop Australian Trade Mark Online Search System (ATMOSS) over the next year, making it easier for businesses to detect similar logos and designs.

Backed by almost a decade of image recognition expertise, Sandra Mau (pictured left) established TrademarkVision in 2011 to commercialise her trademark protection technology.

The business raised seed capital from early stage investors QUT Creative Enterprise Australia and Scale Angels, after being a finalist in QUT Creative Australia's Creative3 Pitch in 2013.

TrademarkVision services businesses, law firms and government departments across the world, opening an office in the US earlier this year.

Mau says the it was exciting to secure the IP Australia contract, after experimenting and prototyping at both the head office and Canberra.

"We would like to thank IP Australia for its commitment and desire to utilise the best technology in the world in its search engines and look forward to working closely throughout the project and ultimately improving the industry," Mau says.

Before the launch of TrademarkVision's technology, searching for trademarks could only be completed using text descriptions or design codes. Results vary internationally and can often be subjective.

IP Australia general manager Robert Bollard says the firm was selected as the best candidate for the project following an extensive tender process.

"This long-term partnership will see a complete rebuild of our major IP Rights search engines, starting with ATMOSS and will focus on all ATMOSS users including the external IP professionals, trademark owners as well as internal trademark examiners," Bollard says.

"It was a lengthy tender process because we wanted to make sure that the company we choose to work with aligned with us and would give our examiners internally a much better service, not just now but into the future."

QUT Creative Enterprise Australia (CEA) CEO and TrademarkVision board member Anna Rooke (pictured right) says the partnership was a testament to the technology.

As the CEA Startup Fund's inaugural investment, she says the deal also demonstrates the underestimated potential of creativity.

"The creative industries sector is often underestimated in Australia," Rooke says.

"It employs more people than mining and contributes $35 billion to our GDP however creative startups struggle to find funding as they are often viewed as high-risk by investors.

"We have now been with them every step of the way and are delighted to see that TrademarkVision will now be able to deliver its service to the global market through this partnership with IP Australia."