As mentioned in our report of 11 March 2022, a 12-month grace period to file a design application following publication or use by the owner is now in effect in Australia. The following is brief outline as to how the grace period is implemented.
Under the new provisions, the grace period for designs is applied by way of a declaration from a person who would have direct knowledge of the relevant material and events. In other words, if you wish to use the grace period to remove a publication from consideration during examination, you will need to provide a formal declaration describing the circumstances of the prior publication. The declaration must be in the approved form and include information and evidence to clearly show that the design was published on a particular date. Read more