Registered designs protect the visual appearance of new products. Whereas patents safeguard functionality, registered designs focus on aesthetics, making them particularly valuable where appearance influences consumer choice. By registering your designs, you signal to the market that you are serious about aesthetic innovation and about guarding it against imitators.
Registered design no. 202510880 in the name of Wheel Pros, LLC for a “Wheel”.
When an Australian design application is filed, IP Australia check some basic formalities and then register the design. Most design are registered within a few months of filing and without any objections. At this point you can (and should) legitimately mark and market your product with “REGISTERED DESIGN”, but the registration cannot be enforced (and threats of enforcement shouldn’t be made) at this stage.
An Australian design registration cannot be enforced until it has been “certified”, meaning that it has passed examination. Examination is not compulsory but can be requested at any time. The examination process can usually be resolved within a few months.
It’s often best not to request examination until there’s a need to enforce the registration. Whilst proactively requesting examination to secure certification early prepares you to move swiftly against imitators, examination entails cost and risks revocation of the registration if the examination process is unsuccessful. In Australia, most registered designs are not examined.
Registered design no. 202318125 in the name of Apple Inc. for a “Head-mounted display”.
When an Australian registered design is examined, an IP Australia examiner assesses whether the design is new and distinctive compared to designs that were publicly known (i.e. non-confidential) before the earliest relevant design application was filed:
Australia has a 12-month grace period that excuses information that you have published (e.g. by selling a product). The grace period won’t help if someone else independently develops and publishes a relevant design before you file your design application, and most countries do not have a grace period, so it’s best to file your design application sooner rather than later and to keep the design secret until then.
Registered design no. 202414670 in the name of FrameLight Pty Ltd for a “Lighting Conduit Extrusion”.
Registering a design in Australia is straightforward. It starts by filing a design application with IP Australia. Usually, if the application is professionally prepared, the design will then be registered within a few months.
The design application must include at least one “representation” of the design. In Australia the representations could be photographs, renderings or drawings. Computer-generated images (e.g. from CAD packages such as SolidWorks) are often suitable for an Australian filing.
The design application may include a “Statement of Newness and Distinctiveness” identifying visual features of the design that should be given particular regard.
The style of the representations and the wording of the Statement of Newness and Distinctiveness are key parameters that can be adjusted to ensure the registration focuses on commercially important features and the registration is more likely to be valid. Occasionally, for commercially important products, it may be appropriate to file more than one design application covering the same product in different ways.
Registered design no. 202110215 in the name of Snap-on Incorporated for an “Impact Wrench”.
We charge A$1,710 + GST to prepare and file an Australian design application using representations that you provide. That figure includes the A$200 official fee and an allowance for processing registration which usually occurs within a few months of filing, so there shouldn’t be any further costs until a renewal fee falls due five years after filing.
There are significant efficiencies associated with filing multiple design applications and corresponding pricing can be offered.
Paying the renewal fee currently costs A$725 + GST and serves to extend the registration to the end of its 10-year term whereafter the registration cannot be renewed any further.
Registered design no. 201412378 in the name of Lumenaus Pty Ltd for a “Vertical axis wind turbine”.
Registering a design in Australia is a simple, low-cost option that enables you to legitimately mark and market a new product with “REGISTERED DESIGN” to deter imitators.
By registering your design in Australia, you obtain exclusive rights to make, use, sell and import products that are identical or “substantially similar in overall impression” to the registered design.
The rights are exclusive rights, as in the right to exclude others from making, using, selling and/or importing product. Registering a design does not give you the right to make, use, sell and import product, e.g. a valid design registration doesn’t guarantee that your product isn’t covered by someone else’s earlier patent.
Registered design no. 202419095 in the name of Razer (Asia-Pacific) Pte. Ltd. for “Controller”.
Protecting a new design internationally often starts with an Australian design application. Foreign design applications for the same design can then be filed up to six months later and “claim priority” from the Australian design application, meaning that foreign design examiners will use the Australian filing date if and when they assess whether the design meets their local requirements for valid protection.
If multinational protection is of interest, traditional design drawings should be procured for the initial Australian filing. Traditional design drawings are black-and-white line drawings in a particular style.
Whereas in Australia photographs and renderings are acceptable, many other countries have more stringent requirements. Using the same traditional design drawings in all of the design applications ensures the applications are for the same design and reduces the scope for costly objections from foreign design examiners.
Registered design no. 201913906 in the name of SZ DJI Technology co. Ltd for a “Drone”.
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Registered design no. 202416942 in the name of Ferrari S.p.A. for a “Car/Toy Car”.
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