Registered Designs Act 2000 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Registration of Designs
5. New design may be registered
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Subject to the provisions of this Part, a design which is new may, upon application by the person claiming to be the owner, be registered in respect of an article, a non‑physical product, or a set of articles and non‑physical products, specified in the application.
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;
A design for which an application for registration is made is not to be regarded as new if it is the same as a design —
application for registration
“application for registration”, in relation to a design, means an application under section 11 for the registration of the design;
registered in respect of the same or any other article, non‑physical product or set of articles and non‑physical products pursuant to a prior application; or
published in Singapore or elsewhere in respect of the same or any other article, non‑physical product or set of articles and non‑physical products before the date of the firstmentioned application,or if it differs from such a design only in immaterial details or in features which are variants commonly used in the trade.
The Registrar may, in such cases as may be prescribed, direct that, for the purpose of deciding whether a design is new, an application for registration of the design is to be treated as filed on a date earlier or later than that on which it was in fact filed.
Registrar
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Designs referred to in section 49 and includes any Deputy Registrar of Designs referred to in that section;