Requirements1. Items Needed to Obtain a Filing Date
(1) Drawings or photographs of design (may be informal).
(2) Title of design.
(3) Written description of design. (We can prepare this upon receipt of your instructions.)
(4) Name and address of the original proprietor - see paragraph 4 below on who is the "proprietor". To obtain a filing date, we can prepare a written description of the design based on our inspection of the drawings or photographs. The description can be amended later as required. A statement of the novel and original features of the design would assist us in drafting a written description. A filing date can be obtained without the necessity for the applicant to sign any application papers.
Notes
1. Subject Matter
An Industrial Design is defined as features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament or any combination of these features applied to an article that, in the finished article, appeal to and are judged solely by the eye. No protection shall extend to features of a useful article dictated solely by a utilitarian function of the article, or to any method or principle of manufacture or construction. An application can cover two or more variants of a design, provided that all of the included variants do not differ
substantially from one another.
2. Convention Priority
1. Convention priority may be claimed if the Canadian application is filed within six months of the earliest
application in any country; it may be claimed at any time while the Canadian application is pending.
2. It is only necessary to give the serial number and filing date of the convention application; it is not necessary to file a certified copy of the convention application.
3. MINIMUM FILING REQUIREMENTS
Minimum requirements for filing include drawings or photographs (any size), the name and address of the
"proprietor" of design [see Note 5], the title of the design and a brief indication of the important features of the
design. If priority is to be claimed, please supply particulars of the filing date of the priority application, the country in which the priority application was filed and the serial number of the application, if available.
4. FORMAL DRAWINGS
Formal drawings must be on DIN A4, 22cm x 28cm (8½" x 11") or 20cm x 33cm (8" x 13") good quality paper with minimum margins as follows: top 2.0cm; left side 2.5cm; right side 1.5cm; and bottom 2.0cm. Two additional copies of each drawing sheet should be provided. If photographs are used, they must be black and white with a plain background and directly reproduced on paper as specified above for the drawings.
5.Applicant
An application to register a design can be filed only by the "proprietor" of the design. The author is the first proprietor unless the author was paid by another party to make the design, in which case the other party is the first proprietor. A design may be assigned to a subsequent proprietor by an instrument in writing, either before or after filing an application. If the design is assigned after filing, the assignment must be registered to record title in the name of the new proprietor. It may be prudent to register an assignment made prior to filing. An applicant should in any event ensure that it can demonstrate its proprietorship and can identify the author and any earlier proprietors, and has assignments or other documents that establish its chain
of title.
6. NOVELTY REQUIREMENTS
Canadian Industrial Designs must be filed within a one year grace period of the first public disclosure of the design anywhere. Claiming convention priority does not extend the grace period beyond one year. Public disclosure has been construed broadly as making the design available to the public anywhere in any manner, including disclosing the design for the purpose of soliciting orders.
7.Written Description
The written description required is a succinct statement of the features of the design. As a minimum, the description should identify whether the design pertains to the entirety of the article, or only a portion of it, and whether the design consists of features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament, or a combination of such features.
8. EXAMINATION
Applications are examined for novelty and formal requirements. Frequently Examiners will reject an application for similarity to an existing registered design. It is possible to argue otherwise or amend the application. The design must be distinguishable from what previously existed by something that is substantially original. A slight change in shape or configuration may not be sufficient to permit registration of the design. Furthermore, the appearance should not be dictated totally by function. A high proportion of our applications are registered as filed, usually without advance notice of the registration date.
9. REGISTRATION
An issue fee is not required to cause an Industrial design to be registered and designs are registered without notice. A request should be made to delay registration if publication may pose difficulties.
10. RENEWAL
An Industrial Design Registration is valid for 5 years from the date of registration. It may be renewed for one
additional term of 5 years either prior to the expiry of the initial 5 year term or within 6 months thereafter upon
application to the Commissioner.
11. MARKING
All or substantially all of the articles to which the design pertains or the labels or packaging associated with such
articles should be marked with the capital letter "D" in a circle and the name, or the usual abbreviation of the name of the current proprietor of the design.
12. Assignment
An assignment from the author to the original proprietor (assuming that the original proprietor is not the author -see discussion above) is not required. An assignment in favour of a subsequent assignee should be registered. An assignment may be dated earlier than the date of registration.
| 
