Registered Designs Act 2000 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Registration of Designs
12. Claim to priority of Convention application
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2022. 2 amendments in all.
Subject to subsection (7), where —
a person has filed an application for the registration of a design in a Convention country in respect of certain articles, non-physical products, or sets of articles and non-physical products;
that application is the first application for the registration of the design to be filed in any Convention country in respect of those articles, non-physical products, or sets of articles and non-physical products (called in this section the first Convention application); (c)within 6 months after the date on which the first Convention application is filed, that person or that person’s successor in title applies under this Act for the registration of the design in respect of all or any of those articles, non-physical products, or sets of articles and non-physical products; and
that person or that person’s successor in title provides to the Registrar, upon request by the Registrar —
any prescribed information; and
any supporting document,in the manner and within the time specified by the Registrar,that person or that person’s 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, non-physical products, or sets of articles and non-physical products for which registration was sought in the first Convention application.
Where any person claims a right of priority in accordance with subsection (1) in respect of an application for the registration of a design —
design
“design” means features of shape, configuration, colours, pattern or ornament applied to any article or non‑physical product that give that article or non‑physical product its appearance, but does not include —(a)a method or principle of construction;(b)features of shape, configuration or colours of an article or a non‑physical product that —(i)are dictated solely by the function that the article or non‑physical product has to perform;(ii)are dependent upon the appearance of another article or non‑physical product of which the article or non‑physical product is intended by the designer to form an integral part; or(iii)enable the article or non‑physical product to be connected to, or placed in, around or against, another article or non‑physical product, so that either article or non‑physical product may perform its function; or(c)features consisting only of one or more colours that —(i)are not used with any feature of shape or configuration; and(ii)do not give rise to any feature of pattern or ornament;
the person has priority from (and including) the date on which the first Convention application was filed; and
the application is to 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.
Subsection (2) is not to be construed as excluding the power to give directions under section 5(3) in relation to the application for the registration of a design.
Despite 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 must not be refused, and the registration of the design under this Act must not be revoked, by reason only of the fact that the first Convention application has been published during the period between —
the date the first Convention application was filed; and
the date the application under this Act was filed.
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, is to be treated as giving rise to the right of priority.
Convention country
“Convention country” means a country or territory, other than Singapore, which is a party to the Paris Convention or a member of the World Trade Organisation;
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.
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 is to be considered the first Convention application if, at the date the subsequent application is filed —
application for registration
“application for registration”, in relation to a design, means an application under section 11 for the registration of the design;
the earlier application has been withdrawn, abandoned or refused, without having been laid open to public inspection and without leaving any rights outstanding; and
the earlier application has not yet served as a basis for claiming a right of priority.
To avoid doubt, where subsection (7) applies —
the date on which the subsequent application was filed, rather than that of the earlier application, is to be considered the starting date of the period of priority under subsection (2); and
the earlier application may not thereafter serve as a basis for claiming a right of priority.
The Minister may make rules as to the manner of claiming priority under this section.
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” is to be construed accordingly.