Industrial Design Filing Requirements
Required to Obtain a Filing Date
- Name and address of the applicant.
- Title of the design identifying the article.
- Drawing(s) or photograph(s) of the design of sufficient quality to see the article and the design.
- Written description of the design. (We can prepare a description sufficient to obtain a filing date from the drawing(s) or photograph(s) of the design.)
Convention Priority
Convention priority may be claimed if the Canadian application is filed within six months of the earliest application in any country. The request for priority must be made within the six-month period and include the serial number and filing date of the convention application. It is not necessary to file a certified copy of the Convention application.
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 more than one design, provided that all of the included designs do not differ substantially from one another.
2. 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 also 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.
3. Execution of application
We can sign the application as agents for the applicant.
4. Written description
The written description required is a succinct statement identifying the features that constitute the design.
5. Drawings or photographs
The drawings or photographs must show the article in isolation and be of sufficient quality to permit the design features to be identified clearly and accurately. Drawings must have margins of at least 2.5 cm and must show the design in solid lines; portions of the article that do not form part of the design may be shown wholly in solid lines or wholly in stippled lines. Stippled lines may also be used in one view to show environment if the environment helps to make clear what the article is or what the design features are. Photographs may be in colour but must permit direct reproduction in black and white.
6. Novelty
A design is not registrable if it is identical to a previously registered design, or if it so closely resembles a previously registered design as to be confused with it. The Canadian application must be filed within one year from the first publication of the design anywhere, and this is unaffected by any priority claim.
A design may also be rejected from registration based on lack of originality if it comprises only features that are already known in the trade. | 
