Industrial Design
Exclusive rights to your designs
An industrial design must be an original shape, pattern or ornamentation applied to a manufactured article. The shape of a table or the decoration on the handle of a spoon are examples of industrial designs. Industrial design registration gives you exclusive rights to your designs for a ten-year period, subject to maintenance fees.
Why register?
Only registration gives you exclusive rights to your design. It enables you to prevent others from making, using or selling your design in Canada for up to 10 years. Unless you register your design, you can make no legal claim of ownership and have no legal protection from imitation.
Who is eligible?
Only the "proprietor" of a design may apply for and obtain registration. Usually, you are considered the proprietor if you have created the design. If you have been hired by someone else to develop a design, then that person is the proprietor and is the only one entitled to apply for registration. If you work together with other people to create a design, you should file for registration as joint proprietors (unless you are
all working under commission). Industrial design registration is valid only if applied for and obtained in the name of the true proprietor.
What types of designs can be registered?
Your design must be original and you must be producing the article in large quantities or intending to do so. In addition, the design must have features intended for visual appeal, but the design office will not judge those features.
You cannot register:
- Designs for articles that serve no useful purpose or that designs that are utilitarian only.
- Designs that have no fixed appearance (e.g. the shape of a beanbag chair).
- Designs that are not clearly visible.
- A method of construction.
- An idea.
- Materials used in the construction of an article.
- The useful function of the article or the colour of the article (other than a pattern).
How does it work?
An application must be filed with the Industrial Design Office in Hull, Quebec, along with drawings of your design and a written description of its original features.
It is wise to conduct a preliminary search of existing industrial designs before preparing your application and it is recommended that you apply for registration before marketing your product.
Who can conduct a search?
Anyone can conduct a search, free of charge, at the Industrial Design Office. Copies of drawings and other documents may be obtained at a nominal charge.
What is the difference between copyright and industrial design registration? If your design is an artistic work, it is automatically protected by a copyright, and you can register it as such. However, if you use the design as a model or pattern to produce 50 or more manufactured articles, you can protect it only by industrial design registration.
What are the costs involved?
The basic federal government costs are: $160 (non-refundable) for the examination and registration of each industrial design application.
