Regular readers may remember our article of December 2012 regarding the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) review of the Australian Designs Act 2003.
Following on from that review, we wish to advise that ACIP have now released their Issues Paper and the following areas have been highlighted for comment:
- Duration of design protection;
- Grace period;
- Statement of Newness and Distinctiveness;
- Publication;
- Unregistered Designs Rights (UDRs);
- Harmonisation with international practices such as The Hague Agreement;
- Border Protection Measures;
- Design overlap with other IP rights;
- Threshold of registrability;
- Confusion regarding the registration/publication/examination process; and
- The (potential) impact of new technologies, such as 3D printing technologies and graphical user interfaces.
Comment relating to matters other than those listed above has also been invited.
Shelston IP suggests stakeholders and regular users of the Australian designs system may wish to review ACIP's comments and make their own submissions in reply. In addition, public roundtable discussions are being planned for Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in October.
The issues paper can be obtained here http://www.acip.gov.au/reviews/all-reviews/review-designs-system/ and the deadline for submissions is 31 October 2013.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.