Product and intended use
Define the configuration, people, information and tasks being assessed.
What the tool does
Public claim only
The TM Checker page, checked 2026-09-27, states TM Checker 'is a free app that helps you decide if your trade mark is likely to face problems when it is examined' and that 'It uses AI to quickly check your proposed trade mark based on internally trained data and examinations conducted by IP Australia.' The page heading is 'Check your word or logo trade mark' and states no online account is needed to use it, 'only if you decide to apply for a trade mark'.
Ask: What exactly does a TM Checker result cover - examination grounds under the Trade Marks Act 1995, prior conflicting marks, class-specific results, or all three - and what is outside its scope?
Editions and access
Public claim only
One free public tool at a single URL on ipaustralia.gov.au, checked 2026-09-27. The page requires the user to tick 'I have read the disclaimer and privacy notice' before the Start button proceeds, and states 'You must acknowledge you have read the disclaimer and privacy notice.' No paid tier, professional edition or firm account is described on any page read.
Ask: Is there any version of TM Checker for trade mark attorneys or law firms, such as bulk checks, saved reports or an account-linked history?
Release stage and history
Public claim only
IP Australia's venture page states 'In 2022, the IPAVentures team launched TM Checker', that it ran alpha and beta stages embedded in third-party platforms, that 'In the second half of 2024, TM Checker will be integrated into IP Australia's website', and that 'a dedicated team now in place within IP Australia' manages ongoing builds. The tool now resolves on www.ipaustralia.gov.au. Neither page read states a current version or a release-stage label.
Ask: Is TM Checker now a generally available service rather than a venture or beta product, and which team owns its release decisions?
Deployment
Public claim only
A browser-based tool served from www.ipaustralia.gov.au, checked 2026-09-27. No on-premises, private-cloud or API deployment is described on any page read, and no hosting location for the tool is stated anywhere read, including the agency security statement.
Ask: Where is TM Checker hosted, and does the AI check run on infrastructure inside Australia?
Jurisdiction and coverage
Public claim only
Australian trade marks only, on the pages read. IP Australia states the check is 'based on internally trained data and examinations conducted by IP Australia' (TM Checker page, checked 2026-09-27). No overseas register, Madrid designation or foreign examination practice is mentioned on either product page.
Ask: Does TM Checker consider only the Australian Register of Trade Marks and IP Australia examination decisions, or any other source?
Vendor content directing how AI describes the product
Not confirmed
Checked deliberately on 2026-09-27 and not found. A map of www.ipaustralia.gov.au returned no /llms.txt, /ai-info, /ai or /for-ai URL, and none of the four IP Australia pages read (the TM Checker page, the venture page, the TM Checker privacy and disclaimer page, and the agency privacy policy) carries a block addressed to AI models, assistants or crawlers, or any instruction on how to describe the product. Separately and not to be conflated: IP Australia's IP First Response site publishes a /developers page addressed to teams building with AI, which concerns a different product and does not direct characterisation. Crawler allow and disallow directives were not examined; those are access control, not narrative control.
Ask: Does IP Australia publish, or plan to publish, any machine-readable file or page that tells AI systems how to describe TM Checker?
Data, controls and requirements
Compare the actual configuration with firm, client and jurisdiction requirements, supported by evidence.
What may be entered, and on whose authority
Public claim only
The TM Checker privacy notice states the information IP Australia may collect includes 'information that you enter into the tool, including details about your proposed trade mark and data relating to your business (or your client's business)', so the notice expressly contemplates use by an adviser on a client's behalf. The same notice states 'TM Checker is trained internally using historical trade marks data, including data entered into TM Checker by its users.' No consent wording for a client's unfiled mark is published.
Ask: What client authority does IP Australia expect before an adviser enters a client's unfiled mark, given that entered data is used to train the tool?
Model and provider
Not confirmed
Not published on any page read. IP Australia states only that the tool 'uses AI to quickly check your proposed trade mark based on internally trained data and examinations conducted by IP Australia' (TM Checker page) and, on the venture page, describes an 'AI-powered trademark name check' and refinement of 'the semantic search functionality'. No model, model family, vendor or version is named, and the agency's generative AI page is about IP policy discovery rather than this tool. The phrase 'internally trained data' is IP Australia's own wording and is not a statement about where inference runs.
Ask: Which model performs the TM Checker check, is it built in-house or supplied by a third party, and where does inference run?
Contracted service providers
Public claim only
The TM Checker privacy notice states 'IP Australia uses contracted service providers to help administer the tool, and to undertake the voluntary survey. Information collected by the tool may be disclosed to these contractors. IP Australia does not otherwise provide the data provided by our customers to other external parties.' No contractor is named, no location is given, and no subprocessor list is published for TM Checker. The agency privacy policy names third-party platforms used across the agency, including Dynatrace, Survey Monkey, Qualtrics and Google Analytics, without tying any of them to TM Checker.
Ask: Which contracted service providers handle TM Checker data, in which countries do they process it, and will IP Australia publish or supply that list?
Training on user content
Public claim only
The TM Checker privacy notice states plainly: 'TM Checker is trained internally using historical trade marks data, including data entered into TM Checker by its users.' There is no opt-out, no tenant boundary and no de-identification step described for that training use on any page read. The same notice states entered information is also used to help IP Australia 'gain a better understanding of its customers' needs and how IP Australia can improve the tool and its other products.'
Ask: Can a firm run a TM Checker check that is excluded from training, and how long does entered mark data remain in the training corpus?
Surveys, telemetry and quality monitoring
Public claim only
The TM Checker privacy notice states IP Australia collects 'your contact details, if you choose to participate in a survey' and 'information automatically collected about your interactions with the tool (such as the website or materials from which you accessed the tool, mouse click activity, interaction and survey responses)', and that contact details may be used to contact the user about the survey or their use of the tool. The survey is stated to be voluntary and is administered by contracted service providers.
Ask: Is the interaction telemetry, including mouse click activity, linked to the mark text entered, and can a professional user turn it off?
Retention of entered data
Public claim only
The TM Checker privacy notice states 'Personal information obtained will be stored and held in accordance with IP Australia's obligations under the Archives Act 1983 (Cth).' No retention period, and no separate treatment for the proposed mark text itself, is published. IP Australia's privacy policy (last updated 15 May 2026) states 'When personal information is no longer required, we destroy or delete it in a secure manner', again with no period.
Ask: What is the actual retention period for a TM Checker submission, and is the entered mark text kept once it has been used for training?
Deletion of a submission
Not confirmed
No deletion route specific to TM Checker is published. IP Australia's privacy policy (last updated 15 May 2026) states 'You can request details of personal information we hold about you at any time' and invites requests to access or correct information, and the TM Checker privacy notice points to the agency privacy policy for how to access or correct personal information and make a complaint. Because no account is needed to run a check, nothing read explains how a particular anonymous submission would be identified for deletion, and the notice states entered data is used for training.
Ask: How would IP Australia locate and delete a specific TM Checker submission made without an account, and would deletion also remove it from the training corpus?
Who can read a submission
Not confirmed
Not published. The TM Checker privacy notice states information collected 'may be disclosed to these contractors' and that it is used to help IP Australia understand customer needs and improve the tool, but nothing read describes which IP Australia staff or contractor personnel can read an entered mark, on what basis, or with what logging. The agency security statement covers encryption in transit and password practice and says nothing about internal access to tool data.
Ask: Which IP Australia or contractor roles can view the marks entered into TM Checker, and is that access logged and reviewed?
Accounts, roles and administration
Not confirmed
The TM Checker page states 'You don't need an online account to use TM Checker, only if you decide to apply for a trade mark' (checked 2026-09-27). A firm therefore has no tenant, no role model, no single sign-on, no audit trail and no way to attribute or restrict staff use of the tool. The agency security statement describes username and password protection for registered online services generally, not for TM Checker.
Ask: Is there any way for a firm to run TM Checker under a managed account so that use is attributable and auditable?
Encryption
Public claim only
IP Australia's security statement, checked 2026-09-27, states 'When you log in to our online services, we encrypt information sent between your computer and our servers using SSL/TLS encryption', and lists 'Encrypting data' and 'Using passwords for verification' as its protection measures, following 'the Australian Government Cyber Security Standards'. It says nothing about encryption at rest, key management, or transport security for a tool used without logging in.
Ask: Is TM Checker data encrypted at rest, who holds the keys, and does the transport encryption described for logged-in services also cover anonymous TM Checker use?
Independent assurance and privacy impact assessment
Public claim only
IP Australia's privacy policy (last updated 15 May 2026) publishes a privacy impact assessment register which records 'TM Checker - March 2023' and 'TM Checker (PIA update) - December 2024', under the Privacy (Australian Government Agencies - Governance) APP Code 2017 (Cth) requirement to conduct a PIA for each high privacy risk project. The register lists dates of completion only; no PIA report, and no security certification, audit report or IRAP assessment for TM Checker, appears on any page read.
Ask: Will IP Australia release the TM Checker privacy impact assessments and any security assessment, such as an IRAP report, covering the tool?
Terms, warranties and liability
Public claim only
There is no customer agreement. The published disclaimer on the TM Checker privacy page states IP Australia 'makes no warranty or representation in relation to the use of this tool by users or any third parties' and 'no warranty or representation that the material contained in this tool will be complete or free from error, or if used will ensure compliance with the relevant requirements of trade mark registration', and that 'in no event will IPA be liable for any incidental or consequential damages or loss resulting from use of the data'. The tool is made available 'on the understanding that you will exercise your own skill, care and judgment with respect to its use.'
Ask: Is any written agreement, service commitment or indemnity available for professional users of TM Checker, or is the published disclaimer the whole of the position?
Cross-border processing
Not confirmed
Nothing read states where TM Checker data is processed. The TM Checker privacy notice says data may be disclosed to contracted service providers without stating their location. IP Australia's privacy policy (last updated 15 May 2026) states 'We only disclose personal information to overseas recipients: with your consent, where legally authorised, when required by an international treaty or convention.' The Australian Privacy Principle 8 waiver that also appears on that page belongs to the Vulnerability Disclosure Program collection notice and is not recorded here as applying to TM Checker.
Ask: Is any TM Checker data, including the mark text entered, processed or stored outside Australia by IP Australia or its contractors?
Incident and breach notification
Not confirmed
No breach or incident notification commitment for TM Checker appears on any page read. The TM Checker privacy notice and disclaimer are silent on it, and the agency privacy policy (last updated 15 May 2026) and security statement describe protection measures and a vulnerability disclosure programme without stating a notification obligation or timeframe to users of this tool.
Ask: If TM Checker submissions were exposed, who would IP Australia notify, within what time, and how would it reach users who ran checks without an account?
Change notice
Not confirmed
No change log, version notice or advance-notice commitment for TM Checker is published on any page read. The only dated change records found are the privacy impact assessment register entry 'TM Checker (PIA update) - December 2024' and the agency privacy policy's own 'Last updated on 15 May 2026'. The venture page states a dedicated team manages 'ongoing builds and enhancements' without describing how changes are announced.
Ask: How are changes to the TM Checker model or its scoring announced, and is there a version identifier a firm can record against advice given on a result?
Export and exit
Not confirmed
Nothing read describes exporting or saving a TM Checker result, and because no account is required there is no stored history to export. The disclaimer and privacy notice are silent on output portability, and no report format is mentioned on the TM Checker page.
Ask: Can a TM Checker result be exported as a dated report for a client file, and is any record of the check retrievable later?
Connectors and data sources
Public claim only
The venture page states the check was embedded 'into platforms and services that SMEs already use, such as business registration and domain name services', with '16 live partners' during alpha and beta. No current connector, feed or API is published, and the only data sources IP Australia names for the check are 'internally trained data and examinations conducted by IP Australia' (TM Checker page, checked 2026-09-27).
Ask: Does TM Checker draw on any data source outside IP Australia's own registers and examination decisions, and does any partner still receive its results?
Open-web access
Not confirmed
Not stated either way. IP Australia describes the check as based on 'internally trained data and examinations conducted by IP Australia' and the venture page refers to 'semantic search functionality', but no page read says whether the tool queries anything on the open internet, such as business names, domain registrations or trader use of a mark.
Ask: Does TM Checker query any external or open-web source, for example to find unregistered trader use of a proposed mark?
Actions the tool can take
Public claim only
On the pages read the tool returns a check result and offers a route onward to applying, which requires an online account: 'You don't need an online account to use TM Checker, only if you decide to apply for a trade mark' (TM Checker page, checked 2026-09-27). No page read describes the tool filing, paying, corresponding with the office or taking any other action on a user's behalf.
Ask: Can TM Checker initiate or pre-populate a trade mark application, and if so what confirmation step sits between the check result and any filing?
Human review before reliance
Public claim only
The published disclaimer requires it: users must 'exercise your own skill, care and judgment', 'carefully evaluate the accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance of the information obtained from this tool', treat all information 'as a guide only', and 'make further independent investigations before relying on any information'. It also states the tool 'is not a substitute for receiving legal advice' and recommends users 'consult an intellectual property professional directly for specific advice'. The product page repeats that results 'can't guarantee an outcome'.
Ask: Does IP Australia publish any guidance on what further investigation it considers adequate before a TM Checker result is relied on in professional advice?
