ALARA News - September 2023

Hello ALARA member

Welcome to the ALARA September 2023 Update

Please send any news items for the ALARA community to Bernadette for ALARA News.

Potential Loss of "ALARA"

By chance, last week I stumbled across the Australian trademark application for the word "ALARA". The company making the application is ALARA QLD Ltd. Without going into the detail, approval of the application would see that company own the right to the use of the word "ALARA" in areas such as:

• Organising and conducting volunteer programmes and community service projects for charitable purposes, including recruitment, organisation and deployment of volunteers for charitable purposes
• Education and training services for charitable purposes.

These areas also include research and educational research.

By owning that right, the company could demand that ALARA stops using the word "ALARA", and even sue ALARA if it continues to use the word.

ALARA could oppose the approval of the trademark, as it is able to show that it has been using the word since 2007/08, whereas the company only lodged their application for trademark in 2022. However, legal advice is not cheap (initial estimate is for at least $2,500 to commence the process), and costs may be allocated to ALARA (particularly if it lost the opposition case). In addition, as the Board was not aware of the application, there are only days (Monday of next week) in which ALARA can lodge an opposition.

The ALARA Board would welcome suggestions, resources, etc. on how best to manage this situation. Please contact ALARA if you can assist.

If the trademark application is approved, ALARA may have to change its short name and any branding (like the logo) to avoid contravening the trademark.

Annual General Meeting 2023

On a brighter note, the announcement of the intention to hold ALARA's AGM was sent last week. Nominations for many positions are open (closing 1 October), and the AGM will commence as an electronic meeting on 24 October, with a Zoom meeting on 8 November to close the AGM.

New Volunteers

As mentioned in previous e-Newsletters, the ALARA Board has been advertising for additional volunteers to support our work. Natalie Dao has joined the Board as Treasurer, and Claire Muntalima has joined as ALARA's Volunteers Co-ordinator. The Board is hopeful of more volunteers joining, but you can assist by nominating someone as indicated above. If you know of anyone who may want to work with ALARA, please contact Bernadette.

Colin Bradley
President