Tim  Hemingway, an IP specialist at Swaab Attorneys told Lawyers Weekly: 'They’d want to have quite a bit of evidence up their sleeve because startup is such a common word, particularly in the technology space…Even if for the last three years the word startup has been plastered all over every Apple store in the country, and various uniforms and devices and the rest of it, well that’s one thing, but the public’s perception of that is another.'

The Australian examiner will consider such issues as the inconvenience caused to people in other businesses and organisations who would have to be careful about using the word startup in their marketing materials.

Apple applied for a trade mark on the word two years ago. It was rejected. A US application, also made in 2011, is still under consultation.