The 'state of the register': The admissibility and weight given to evidence of comparable trade mark registrations across five jurisdictions

It is not uncommon for a party to a trade mark dispute to search the trade marks register, and through the decisions of courts and tribunals, to find purportedly similar marks which have been accepted or rejected. The outcome of this research –so called state of the register evidence--is then relied upon by the party before Trade Mark Offices and courts in an attempt to overcome or make objections to registration. The weight and admissibility of this sort of evidence varies across jurisdictions although not as much as at first appears. Accordingly, the approach in the European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and the United States is examined here, and it is found that in each of these jurisdictions the evidence once collected is rarely useful in decision making.