Commonwealth Numbered Acts

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY ACT 1997 No. 52 of 1997 - SECT 55

(1) A person must not, unless the ACA consents in writing:

   (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 or craft (including aircraft); or

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

(2) A person who intentionally or recklessly contravenes subsection (1) is
guilty of an offence punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding 30
penalty units. Note: See also sections 4AA and 4B of the Crimes Act 1914.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) limits anything else in that subsection.

(4) Nothing in subsection (1), so far as it applies in relation to a protected
name or in relation to a protected symbol, affects rights conferred by law on
a person in relation to:

   (a)  a trade mark that is registered under the Trade Marks Act 1995; or

   (b)  a design that is registered under the Designs Act 1906; and was so
        registered immediately before 16 August 1996 in relation to the name
        or symbol.

(5) Nothing in this section, so far as it applies to a protected name or in
relation to a protected symbol, affects the use, or rights conferred by law
relating to the use, of the name or symbol by a person in a particular manner
if, immediately before 16 August 1996, the person:

   (a)  was using the name or the 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 name or the symbol or a similar name or
        symbol, goods or services as the goods or services of the first-
        mentioned person.

(6) This section does not apply to a person who uses or applies a protected
name or a protected symbol for the purpose of labelling customer equipment or
customer cabling in accordance with section 407 of the Telecommunications Act
1997 or section 182 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992.

(7) In this section:
protected name means:
(a) "the ACA"; or
(b) "Australian Communications Authority".
protected symbol means an official symbol of the ACA, where the design of the
symbol is set out in the regulations.