The Designs Amendment (Advisory Council on Intellectual Property Response) Act 2021 (the Act) received Royal Assent on 10 September 2021. As mentioned in our previous article, this update will bring improvements to Australia’s Registered Designs System through proposed changes to the Australian Designs Act 2003.
The changes introduced by the Act are grouped into seven schedules and we have provided a summary below of the most noteworthy changes.
Schedule 1 – Introduction of a 12-month grace period
The Designs Act is to be somewhat aligned with the Patents Act through the introduction of a 12-month grace period. Under revisions to Section 17, certain disclosures that occur within the 12 month period, ending at the end of the day before the priority date of the subject design, are to be disregarded when assessing a design’s newness and distinctiveness. Those disclosures include publication or use of the design by, or derived from, the registered owner (or the registered owner’s predecessor in title). Continue Reading