Director of Intellectual Property Stephen Selby expressed his deep concern following media enquiries about personal and commercial information being published on the Internet that was provided by those seeking to oppose trademark registration.

"I apologise that we had not done more to avoid unsolicited personal or business information submitted by the public being published on the Internet without their full knowledge," Mr Selby said.

"I have blocked Internet access to such information and we are urgently assessing the extent of the problem.

"In addition to the data-protection notice currently provided in the specified forms, we are urgently considering what can be done to ensure that the public would better understand that the information they provide may be published on the Internet. We shall also consider how to strengthen our internal procedures to avoid unsolicited personal or business information submitted by the public being published on the Internet without their full knowledge.