Designs | Australia | Filing Requirements

Applicant's Details

• the full legal name and address of each person, company or other legal entity in whose name the application is to be made (note the applicant does not have to be an inventor and in that case the applicant must have legal entitlement to the invention);
• the Australian company number (ACN), or the Australian registered body number (ARBN), if relevant for any company that is an applicant;
• in the case of an applicant that is a foreign legal entity we will require the name of the country and or the state under whose laws the legal entity was created by incorporation or other.

Design Details

• the title of the article to which the design is applied;
• the features of the design which are considered to be new and distinctive.

Drawings or Photographs of the Design

• a set of representations as drawings or photographs that illustrate all the features of the design;
• the representations must show the product that is named in the application and not just the design,for example, a two dimensional design applicable to a T-shirt must show the T-shirt and the design as applied to it;
• the representations should not include any text matter that is not part of the design detail, however each representation requires a title;
• multiple designs in one drawing or photograph must be arranged so that detail of each design is visually evident and not obscured by another;
• in the case of a single design applied to more than one product the representations must show the design applied to each product that forms part of the application;
• representations should show only the design or designs that are being applied for and minimise or avoid extraneous matter that may confuse the scope of the relevant design details;
• drawings and photographs to be be provided in accordance with the following additional guidelines as applicable.

Guidelines For Drawings

• Drawings to be provided in .pdf or .dwg format;
• Drawings to be of drafting quality or no less than high-quality artistic sketches of clear and definite detail, linework should be well-defined lines and strokes and not inconsistent, faint, or otherwise sketchy lines;
• Drawings should be illustrative and should show the whole assembled product;
• All views should be consistent in detail;
• Shading, for example to indicate curved surfaces, is allowable if it helps illustrate important detail of the design;
• Exploded views are allowable if they illustrate detail that could otherwise not be clearly illustrated or if components of the product being illustrated can be separated in normal use, e.g., a bottle with cap;
• Each representation should be shown in proper proportion to each other representation;
• Close-ups of portions of the design are allowable but must be consistent in detail with all other views;
• Section views showing the profile of the product are allowable, e.g., internal features of a bottle cap where normal views would not adequately show this, and should be indicated by oblique hatching;
• Environmental views of the design shown in use are allowable but must clearly be labelled accordingly to exclude details not forming part of the design.

Guidelines For Photographs

• photographs provided in high resolution.jpg format;
• environmental lighting at the time of taking photographs should not obscure or confuse important detail of the design;
• photos should be taken against a plain and contrasting background;

Official Filing Fee

• payment of the official filing fee for the application.

Power of Attorney

• an executed power of attorney is not required.

The same requirements as a national design application, plus:

Filing Time Limits

• the convention time limit to file an application and validly claim priority from an eligible first application is +6 months from the filing date of the first application.

Foreign Priority Details

• the filing date, application number, and country where the foreign application was filed.

Official Filing Fee

• payment of the official filing fee for the trade mark application.