Section 9A — Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)

(1) A person must not, without the Minister’s written consent:

(a) use in relation to a business, trade, profession or occupation; or

(b) use as the name, or as part of the name, of any firm, body corporate, institution, premises, vehicle, ship, aircraft or other craft; or

(c) apply, as a trade mark or otherwise, to goods imported, manufactured, produced, sold, offered for sale or let for hire; or

(d) use in relation to:

(i) goods or services; or

(ii) the promotion, by any means, of the supply or use of goods or services:

either:

(e) a protected name, or a name so closely resembling a protected name as to be likely to be mistaken for it; or

(f) a protected symbol, or a symbol so closely resembling a protected symbol as to be likely to be mistaken for it.

Penalty: 30 penalty units.

(2) Subsection (1), so far as it applies in relation to a particular protected name or protected symbol, does not affect rights conferred by law on a person in relation to:

(a) a trade mark that is a registered trade mark for the purposes of the Trade Marks Act 1995; or

(b) a design registered under the Designs Act 2003;

that was so registered, or was registered under the Designs Act 1906, at the protection time in relation to the name or symbol.

(3) This section, so far as it applies in relation to a particular protected name or protected symbol, does not affect the use, or rights conferred by law relating to the use, of a name or symbol (the relevant name or symbol) by a person in a particular manner if, at the protection time in relation to the protected name or protected symbol, the person:

(a) was using the relevant name or symbol in good faith in that manner; or

(b) would have been entitled to prevent another person from passing off, by means of the use of the relevant name or symbol or a similar name or symbol, goods or services as the goods or services of the first‑mentioned person.

(4) In this section:

protected name means a name prescribed for the purposes of this definition.

protected symbol means a symbol whose design is set out in the regulations.

protection time means:

(a) in relation to a protected name—the time immediately before the commencement of the regulation prescribing the name; or

(b) in relation to a protected symbol—the time immediately before the commencement of the regulation setting out the design of the symbol.

Related sections

• s 7 — Extension of Act to certain Territories
• s 7A — Application of the Criminal Code
• s 8 — Supersession of existing laws
• s 10A — Accreditation Rules
• s 10AA — Immunity
• s 10B — Definition of family counselling

Research how courts apply s 9A

BriefBridge searches Australian caselaw by meaning — every answer cited to the paragraph.