CHAPTER 2 |
Rule 7 |
(1) [Form and Signature] The international application shall be presented on the official form. The international application shall be signed by the applicant.
(2) [Fees] The prescribed fees applicable to the international application shall be paid as provided for in Rules 27 and 28.
(3) [Mandatory Contents of the International Application] The international application shall contain or indicate
(i) the name of the applicant, given in accordance with the Administrative Instructions;
(ii) the address of the applicant, given in accordance with the Administrative Instructions;
(iii) the applicants Contracting Party;
[Rule 7(3), continued]
(iv) the product or products which constitute the industrial design or in relation to which the industrial design is to be used, with an indication whether the product or products constitute the industrial design or are products in relation to which the industrial design is to be used; the product or products shall preferably be identified by using terms appearing in the list of goods of the International Classification;
(v) the number of reproductions or specimens of the industrial design accompanying the international application in accordance with Rule 9 or 10;
(vi) the designated Contracting Parties;
(vii) the amount of the fees being paid and the method of payment, or instructions to debit the required amount of fees to an account opened with the International Bureau, and the identification of the party effecting the payment or giving the instructions.
(4) [Additional Contents of an International Application] (a) Where the international application contains the designation of a Contracting Party that has notified the Director General, in accordance with Article 17(1), that its law requires one or more of the following elements in order for an application for the grant of protection to an industrial design to be accorded a filing date:
[Rule 7(4)(a), continued]
(i) indications concerning the identity of the creator of the industrial design,
(ii) a description of the reproduction or of the characteristic features of the
industrial design,
(iii) a claim,
the international application shall contain the element or elements required by that Contracting Party, in accordance with Rule 11.
(b) An element referred to in item (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (a) may, at the option of the applicant, be included in the international application even where that element is not required in consequence of a notification in accordance with Article 17(1).
(c) Where Rule 8 applies, the international application shall contain the indications referred to in Rule 8(2) and, where applicable, be accompanied by the statement or document referred to in that Rule.
(d) Where the applicant has a representative, the international application shall state the name and address of the representative, given in accordance with the Administrative Instructions.
[Rule 7(4), continued]
(e) Where the applicant wishes, under Article 4 of the Paris Convention, to take advantage of the priority of an earlier filing, the international application shall contain a declaration claiming the priority of that earlier filing, together with an indication of the name of the Office where such filing was made and of the date and, where available, the number of that filing and, where the priority claim relates to less than all the industrial designs contained in the international application, the indication of those industrial designs to which the priority claim relates.
(f) Where the applicant wishes to take advantage of Article 11 of the Paris Convention, the international application shall contain a declaration that the product or products which constitute the industrial design or in which the industrial design is incorporated have been shown at an official or officially recognized international exhibition, together with the place where the exhibition was held and the date on which the product or products were first exhibited there and, where less than all the industrial designs contained in the international application are concerned, the indication of those industrial designs to which the declaration relates.
(g) Where the applicant wishes that publication of the industrial design be deferred in accordance with Article 10, the international application shall contain a request for deferment of publication.
[Rule 7(4), continued]
(h) The international application may also contain
(i) a declaration that the applicant believes that the industrial design is novel;
(ii) a statement of what constitutes the novelty of the industrial design;
(iii) where the applicant is not the creator of the industrial design, an indication of the basis of the applicants right to file the international application or to be the holder of an international registration in respect of the industrial design.
(i) The international application may be accompanied by a statement that identifies information known by the applicant to be material to the eligibility for protection of the industrial design concerned.
(5) [No Additional Matter] If the international application contains any matter other than that required or permitted by the Act, these Regulations or the Administrative Instructions, the International Bureau shall delete it ex officio. If the international application is accompanied by any document other than those required or permitted, the International Bureau shall dispose of the said document.
[Rule 7, continued]
(6) [All Products to Be in Same Class] All the products which constitute the industrial designs to which an international application relates, or in relation to which the industrial designs are to be used, shall belong to the same class of the International Classification.
Rule 8 |
(1) [Notification of Special Requirements] (a) Where the law of a Contracting Party requires that an application for the protection of an industrial design be filed in the name of the creator of the industrial design, that Contracting Party may, in a declaration, notify the Director General of that fact.
(b) The declaration referred to in subparagraph (a) shall specify the form and mandatory contents of any statement or document required for the purposes of paragraph (2).
(2) [Identity of the Creator and Assignment of International Application] Where an international application contains the designation of a Contracting Party that has made the declaration referred to in paragraph (1),
(i) it shall also contain indications concerning the identity of the creator of the industrial design, together with a statement, complying with the requirements specified in accordance with paragraph (1)(b), that the latter believes himself to be the creator of the industrial design; the person so identified as the creator shall be deemed to be the applicant for the purposes of the designation of that Contracting Party, irrespective of the person named as the applicant in accordance with Rule 7(3)(i);
[Rule 8(2), continued]
(ii) where the person identified as the creator is a person other than the person named as the applicant in accordance with Rule 7(3)(i), the international application shall be accompanied by a statement or document, complying with the requirements specified in accordance with paragraph (1)(b), to the effect that it has been assigned by the person identified as the creator to the person named as the applicant. The latter person shall be recorded as the holder of the international registration.
Rule 9 |
(1) [Form and Number of Reproductions of the Industrial Design] (a) Reproductions of the industrial design shall, at the option of the applicant, be in the form of photographs or other graphic representations of the industrial design itself or of the product or products which constitute the industrial design. The same product may be shown from different angles; views from different angles may be included in the same photograph or other graphic representation or in different photographs or other graphic representations.
(b) Any reproduction shall be submitted in the number of copies prescribed in the Administrative Instructions.
(2) [Requirements Concerning Reproductions] (a) Reproductions shall be of a quality permitting all the details of the matter for which protection is sought to be clearly distinguished and permitting publication.
(b) Matter which is shown in a reproduction but for which protection is not sought may be indicated as provided for in the Administrative Instructions.
[Rule 9, continued]
(3) [Views Required] (a) Subject to subparagraph (b), any Contracting Party which requires certain specified views of the product or products which constitute the industrial design or in relation to which the industrial design is to be used shall so notify the Director General, indicating the views that are required and the circumstances in which they are required.
(b) No Contracting Party may require more than one view where the industrial design or product is two-dimensional, or more than six views where the product is three-dimensional.
(4) [Refusal on Grounds Relating to the Reproductions of the Industrial Design] A Contracting Party may not refuse the effects of the international registration on the ground that requirements relating to the form of the reproductions of the industrial design that are additional to, or different from, those notified by that Contracting Party in accordance with paragraph (3)(a) have not been satisfied under its law. A Contracting Party may however refuse the effects of the international registration on the ground that the reproductions contained in the international registration are not sufficient to disclose fully the industrial design.
Rule 10 |
(1) [Number of Specimens] Where the international application contains a request for deferment of publication in respect of a two-dimensional industrial design and, instead of being accompanied by the reproductions referred to in Rule 9, is accompanied by specimens of the industrial design, the following number of specimens shall accompany the international application:
(i) one specimen for the International Bureau, and
(ii) one specimen for each designated Examining Office that has notified the International Bureau under Article 19(1) that it wishes to receive a copy of an international registration whose publication has been deferred.
(2) [Specimens] All the specimens shall be contained in a single package. The specimens may be folded. The maximum dimensions and weight of the package shall be specified in the Administrative Instructions.
Rule 11 |
(1) [Identity of Creator] Where the international application contains indications concerning the identity of the creator of the industrial design, his name and address shall be given in accordance with the Administrative Instructions.
(2) [Description] Where the international application contains a description, the latter shall concern those features that appear in the reproductions of the industrial design. If the description exceeds 100 words, an additional fee, as set out in the Schedule of Fees, shall be payable.
(3) [Claim] A declaration under Article 17(1) that the law of a Contracting Party requires a claim in order for an application for the grant of protection to an industrial design to be accorded a filing date shall specify the exact wording of the required claim. Where the international application contains a claim, the wording of that claim shall be as specified in the said declaration.
Rule 12 |
(1) [Prescribed Fees] (a) The international application shall be subject to the payment of the following fees:
(i) a basic fee;
(ii) a standard designation fee in respect of each designated Contracting Party that has not made a declaration under Article 7(2);
(iii) an individual designation fee in respect of each designated Contracting Party that has made a declaration under Article 7(2);
(iv) a publication fee.
(b) The amounts of the fees referred to in items (i), (ii) and (iv) are set out in the Schedule of Fees.
(2) [When Fees to Be Paid] The fees referred to in paragraph (1) are payable at the time of filing the international application, except that, where the international application contains a request for deferment of publication, the publication fee may be paid later, in accordance with Rule 15(3).
Rule 13 |
(1) [Date of Receipt by Office and Transmittal to the International Bureau] Where the international application is filed through the intermediary of the Office of the applicants Contracting Party, that Office shall notify the applicant of the date on which it received the application. At the same time as it transmits the international application to the International Bureau, the Office shall notify the International Bureau of the date on which it received the application. The Office shall notify the applicant of the fact that it has transmitted the international application to the International Bureau.
(2) [Transmittal Fee] An Office that requires a transmittal fee, as provided for in Article 4(3), shall notify the International Bureau of the amount of such fee, which should not exceed the administrative costs of receiving and transmitting the international application, and its due date.
(3) [Filing Date of International Application Filed Indirectly] The filing date of an international application filed through the intermediary of an Office shall be
(i) the date on which the international application was received by that Office, provided that it is received by the International Bureau within one month of that date;
[Rule 13(3), continued]
(ii) in any other case, the date on which the International Bureau receives the international application.
(4) [Filing Date Where Applicants Contracting Party Requires a Security Clearance] (a) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), a Contracting Party whose law, at the time that it becomes party to the Act, requires security clearance may, in a declaration, notify the Director General that the period of one month referred to in that paragraph shall be replaced by a period of three months.
(b) Where the international application is filed through the intermediary of the Office of a Contracting Party having made a declaration under subparagraph (a), that Office may, within three months from the date on which it received the international application, inform the International Bureau and the applicant that the international application cannot be transmitted to the International Bureau within the said three months. In that case, the filing date of the international application shall, notwithstanding subparagraph (a), be
(i) the date on which the international application was received by the said Office, provided that it is received by the International Bureau within six months of that date;
(ii) in any other case, the date on which the International Bureau receives the international application.
Rule 14 |
(1) [Filing Date] The International Bureau shall accord to the international application a filing date, in accordance with Article 4(2) or Rule 13(3) or (4), and shall notify the applicant accordingly.
(2) [Time Limit for Correcting Irregularities] The prescribed time limit for correcting irregularities in accordance with Article 8 shall be three months from the date of the invitation sent by the International Bureau.
(3) [Irregularities Entailing a Postponement of the Date of the International Registration] The irregularities which entail a postponement of the date of the international registration, as referred to in Article 9(2)(b), are the following:
(a) the international application is not in the prescribed language or one of the prescribed languages;
(b) any of the following elements is missing from the international application:
(i) an express or implicit indication that international registration under the Act is sought;
[Rule 14(3)(b), continued]
(ii) indications allowing the identity of the applicant to be established;
(iii) indications sufficient to enable the applicant or its representative, if any, to be contacted;
(iv) a reproduction, or, in accordance with Article 5(1)(iii), a specimen, of each industrial design that is the subject of the international application;
(v) the designation of at least one Contracting Party.
(4) [Reimbursement of Fees] Where, in accordance with Article 8(2)(a), the international application is considered abandoned, the International Bureau shall refund any fees paid in respect of that application, after deduction of an amount corresponding to the basic fee.
Rule 15 |
(1) [Maximum Period of Deferment] The prescribed period for the purposes of Article 10(1)(a) and (2)(i) shall be 30 months from the filing date or, where priority is claimed, from the priority date of the application concerned.
(2) [Period for Withdrawal of Designation Where Deferment Is Not Possible Under Applicable Law] The period referred to in Article 10(3)(i) for the applicant to withdraw the designation of a Contracting Party whose law does not allow the deferment of publication shall be one month from the date of the notification sent by the International Bureau.
(3) [Period for Paying Publication Fee and Submitting Reproductions] The publication fee referred to in Rule 12(1)(a)(iv) shall be paid, and the reproductions referred to in Article 10(6)(b) shall be submitted, before the period of deferment applicable under Article 10(2) expires, or before the period of deferment is considered to have expired in accordance with Article 10(4)(a).
(4) [Requirements Not Complied With] If the requirements of paragraph (3) are not complied with, the international registration shall be canceled and shall not be published.
Rule 16 |
(1) [Registration of the Industrial Design in the International Register] Where the International Bureau finds that the international application conforms to the applicable requirements, it shall register the industrial design in the International Register and send a certificate to the holder.
(2) [Contents of the Registration] The international registration shall contain
(i) all the data contained in the international application, except any priority claim under Rule 7(4)(e) where the date of the earlier filing is more than six months before the date of the international registration;
(ii) the date of the international registration;
(iii) the number of the international registration;
(iv) the relevant class of the International Classification, as determined by the International Bureau.
Rule 17 |
(1) [Timing of Publication] The international registration shall be published
(i) where the applicant so requests, immediately after the registration,
(ii) where deferment of publication has been requested and the request has not been disregarded, immediately after the date on which the period of deferment expired or is considered to have expired,
(iii) in any other case, six months after the date of the international registration.
(2) [Contents of Publication] The publication of the international registration in the Bulletin, in accordance with Article 9(3), shall contain
(i) the data recorded in the International Register;
(ii) the reproduction or reproductions of the industrial design;
(iii) where publication has been deferred, an indication of the date on which the period of deferment expired or is considered to have expired.