Registration & Publication
After you lodge your application
Shortly after you have lodged your application, we will check that your application has met minimum filing requirements and then send you a notice advising you of the design number and the filing date of your application.
You will also receive a copy of the information about your application. You should check this information is correct and inform us of any errors or discrepancies.
Request for registration
Within six months of the filing date of your application, you must apply in writing to request registration or publication of your design.
Your application will lapse if we haven't received a request to register or publish your design from you within this time limit. Keep a note of that date to safeguard your design.
If you request registration, your design application will be subject to a formalities check to make sure the necessary information and representations are present.
If the design application passes the formalities check, the design will be registered and advertised in the Australian Official Journal of Designs, and made available for searching in the Australian Designs Data Searching (ADDS) database.
Request for publication
An alternative to registration is publication. Publishing a design does not give you any rights in respect of the design but may be used for strategic purposes.
Publication can be considered as a defensive strategy in situations where you cannot register your design. For example, if you have already disclosed your design (e.g. exhibited, sold copies, posted your design on a website), you may not be able to register it as it may not be considered to be new and distinctive.
Publication is used to prevent others from obtaining certification for the same design, as the design is no longer considered new.
If publication is requested, the application will be checked and the design will be published in the Australian Official Journal of Designs and on the Australian Designs Data Searching (ADDS) system.
Excluded designs
If you are filing an application for a design that was excluded from a previous initial design application, you should indicate the design number relating to the excluded design. This called a divisional application.
You must request registration or publication for an excluded design at the time of application. Otherwise the application will immediately lapse.
An application for an excluded design must be made before any of the designs in the initial publication are registered or published.
Last Updated: 10/12/2012
