Following on from our article of 14 May 2020,
Australian Designs – Changes on the Way, we advise that
the Australian Designs
Exposure Draft Bill,
Regulations, accompanying draft
Explanatory Memorandum and
Explanatory Statement have now been released. IP Australia have
invited interested parties to provide comment. IP Australia have
invited interested parties to provide comment.
If passed in its proposed form, the Draft Bill will codify many
of the recommendations accepted by the Government from the former
Advisory Council on Intellectual Property's (ACIP) review of
the Designs System. Amongst others, these changes include: the
introduction of a twelve-month grace period, expanding the existing
prior use defence, removal of the formal request for requesting
registration, providing exclusive licensees to sue for
infringement, and clarifying the meaning of the standard of the
informed user.
