A registered design is a proprietary right in a design. It protects the appearance of a new or original design applied to a product. 

The design may be in three dimensions (the shape or configuration of something) or two dimensions (the pattern or ornamentation of something).

For a design to have novelty (i.e. to be “new or original”), it cannot be published to shown to anyone in New Zealand before a design application is filed. This generally means that prior to filing a design application a product embodying the design cannot be sold or offered for sale, disclosed (other than in confidence), or published. There are however some exceptions.

Novelty is usually assessed at the date when the application to register the design in filed in New Zealand.

No. Designs which are purely functional cannot be protected, and nor can works of sculpture, wall plaques and medals, and printed matter used primarily for literary or artistic purposes (for example greeting cards or playing cards).

The design must also have some element of eye appeal. In addition, a design registration cannot protect a method or principle of construction or operation – these things are properly protected by patent if they are new and inventive.

To use IPOL to file an application to register your design you need to supply the following information:

• The full name and address of the person or company who will own the application, and their nationality or country of incorporation;
• Good quality images showing the pattern or shape which you wish to protect (drawings are preferred).

IPOL will need the above information in order to draft the application, Statement of Novelty and formal representations of the design in a form accepted by the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ).

Once filed, the application is examined by IPONZ within ten days of filing to determine whether the design is new, original and has an element of appeal to the eye. This is usually done by comparing it to designs already on the Register or disclosed elsewhere.

If IPONZ has any concerns about the registrability of the design, it will issue an examination report detailing its objections. If there are no objections (or once they have been overcome), the design will be registered, and details of the design will be published in the Patent Office Journal.

A New Zealand registered design is valid for 15 years on payment of renewal fees due on the fifth and tenth anniversaries of the design registration.

As registered designs are territorial, separate applications must be filed in each country in which you want to protect the design. If an application is made overseas within six months of filing the corresponding design application in New Zealand, it can claim the same priority date as the New Zealand application.

The owner of a registered design has the exclusive right to sell, hire (or offer for sale or hire), manufacture and import any article that embodies the design.

Yes. Copyright rests automatically in the design drawings of a registered design.

However, a registered design can be a more powerful tool as:

• It is a registered proprietary right which records what the design is, the date of the design and the owner. Each of these things must be proved in a copyright case. 
• The details of a registered design are published and searchable and will act as a deterrent to potential infringers. There is no system of registering copyright, so the deterrent effect is low.
• More importantly, to prove copyright infringement in an unregistered design, you have to prove that you have a “copyright work” in which copyright exists, that you (rather than the designer) own the copyright, and that the infringer actually copied your product. These things, particularly actual copying, can be difficult to prove. By comparison, if you have a registered design, all you need show is that the look of the infringing product does not differ substantially from your registered design. It does not matter whether the alleged infringer copied or not.

You can find out more by reading the “About Designs” section of this site, or by downloading information from the Media/Publications page of www.jaws.co.nz, or by having an IPOL specialist contact you [click here]