On 19/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 31/07/2005.
11. An application for registration of a design shall be filed in the prescribed manner with the Registrar, and is subject to the payment of the prescribed application fee.
12.
—(1) Subject to subsection (7), where —
(a)
a person has filed an application for the registration of a design in a Convention country in respect of certain articles;
(b)
that application is the first application for the registration of the design to be filed in any Convention country in respect of those articles (referred to in this section as the first Convention application); and
(c)
within 6 months after the date on which the first Convention application is filed, that person or his successor in title applies under this Act for the registration of the design in respect of all or any of those articles,
that person or his successor in title may, when filing the application under this Act, claim a right of priority for the registration of the design in respect of all or any of the articles for which registration was sought in the first Convention application.
[44/2004]
(2) Where any person claims a right of priority in accordance with subsection (1) in respect of an application for the registration of a design —
(a)
the person shall have priority from (and including) the date on which the first Convention application was filed; and
(b)
the application shall be treated, for the purposes of determining whether that or any other design is new, as filed on the date on which the first Convention application was filed.
[44/2004]
(3) Subsection (2) shall not be construed as excluding the power to give directions under section 5(3) in relation to the application for the registration of a design.
[44/2004]
(4) Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this Act, where a right of priority is claimed in respect of an application for the registration of a design, the application shall not be refused, and the registration of the design under this Act shall not be revoked, by reason only of the fact that the first Convention application has been published during the period between —
(a)
the date the first Convention application was filed; and
(b)
the date the application under this Act was filed.
[44/2004]
(5) Any filing of an application for the registration of a design which in a Convention country is equivalent to a regular national filing, under its domestic legislation or an international agreement, shall be treated as giving rise to the right of priority.
[44/2004]
(6) In subsection (5), “regular national filing” means a filing which is adequate to establish the date on which the application was filed in the Convention country, whatever may be the outcome of the application.
[44/2004]
(7) Where a subsequent application for registration of a design concerning the same subject as an earlier application is filed, whether in the same or a different Convention country, and these are the first 2 applications concerning that subject to be filed in any Convention country, the subsequent application shall be considered the first Convention application if, at the date the subsequent application is filed —
(a)
the earlier application has been withdrawn, abandoned or refused, without having been laid open to public inspection and without leaving any rights outstanding; and
(b)
the earlier application has not yet served as a basis for claiming a right of priority.
[44/2004]
(8) For the avoidance of doubt, where subsection (7) applies —
(a)
the date on which the subsequent application was filed, rather than that of the earlier application, shall be considered the starting date of the period of priority under subsection (2); and
(b)
the earlier application may not thereafter serve as a basis for claiming a right of priority.
[44/2004]
(9) The Minister may make rules as to the manner of claiming priority under this section.
[44/2004]
(10) A right to priority arising under this section may be assigned or otherwise transmitted, either with the application or independently, and the reference in subsection (1) to the applicant’s “successor in title” shall be construed accordingly.
[Trade Marks 1999 Ed., s. 10]
[44/2004]
13.
—(1) The Minister may by order confer on a person who has filed an application for registration of a design in a country or territory to which the Government has entered into a treaty, convention, arrangement or engagement for the reciprocal protection of registered designs, a right to priority, for the purpose of registering the same design under this Act for some or all of the same articles, for a specified period from the date of filing of that application.
(2) An order under this section may make provision corresponding to that set out in section 12 or such other provision as appears to the Minister to be appropriate.
[Trade Marks 1999 Ed., s. 11]
14.
—(1) An applicant may withdraw his application for registration of a design by filing a notice of withdrawal with the Registrar in the prescribed manner before the date on which preparations for publication under section 18 have been completed, as determined by the Registrar.
(2) Where a notice of withdrawal is filed in accordance with subsection (1), the application shall be treated as withdrawn, and such withdrawal is irrevocable.
[HK Designs, s. 18]
15.
—(1) The Registrar may, on his own initiative or upon request made to him in the prescribed manner by the applicant and payment of the prescribed fee, amend an application for registration of a design.
(2) An application for registration of a design shall not be amended if, as a result of the amendment, the scope of the application would be increased by the inclusion of matter that was not in substance disclosed in the application as filed.
(3) The Registrar shall not be obliged to correct on his own initiative any error not due to the default of the Registrar.
(4) Where the Registrar proposes to make any amendment on his own initiative, he shall give notice of the proposal to every person who appears to him to be likely to be affected by the amendment, and shall give the person an opportunity to be heard before making the amendment.
[UK Designs 1949, s. 21; Aust. Designs 1906, s. 22B]
16.
—(1) The Registrar shall examine an application for registration of a design, being an application which has not been withdrawn, to determine whether it satisfies the formal requirements.
(2) If the Registrar determines that an application fails to comply with the formal requirements, he shall notify the applicant and give him an opportunity to correct the non-compliance within such period as the Registrar determines.
(3) If the non-compliance is not corrected within the period referred to in subsection (2), the application shall be treated as withdrawn, but the Registrar may, upon —
(a)
the filing by the applicant of a notice in the prescribed form requesting reinstatement of the application;
(b)
the payment of the prescribed fee; and
(c)
the compliance by the applicant with such conditions as the Registrar may impose,
reinstate the application.
(4) Upon reinstatement of an application, any right or means of redress lost by the applicant as a result of the withdrawal shall be restored to him.
(5) In this section and sections 17 and 18, "formal requirements" means those requirements of section 11, and of rules made for the purposes of that section, that are prescribed as formal requirements.
[HK Designs, s. 24]
17.
—(1) The Registrar may refuse an application for registration of a design if —
(a)
after an examination by him under section 16; and
(b)
after giving the applicant the opportunity to correct any non-compliance with the formal requirements,
the Registrar determines that the application does not satisfy the formal requirements.
(2) The Registrar may refuse an application for registration of a design if, on the face of the application, the design is not new or is not registrable for any other reason.
(3) The Registrar shall give notice of any refusal under this section to the applicant.
[HK Designs, s. 26]
18. Subject to section 17, if the Registrar determines that an application for registration of a design satisfies the formal requirements, he shall as soon as practicable —
(a)
register the design by entering the prescribed particulars in the Register;
(b)
enter the name of the applicant, or the successor in title to the application, in the Register as the owner of the design;
(c)
issue a certificate of registration to the person who is the registered owner of the design at the time the design is registered; and
(d)
publish a notice of the registration and a representation of the design in the prescribed manner.
[HK Designs, s. 25]
[26/2001]
19. The Registrar, in determining whether to accept an application for registration of a design, shall not be required to consider or have regard to —
(a)
the registrability of the design;
(b)
whether the applicant is entitled to any right of priority claimed in the application; or
(c)
whether the design is properly represented in the application.
[HK Designs, s. 27]