Notice on filing requirements for design registrations issued

The UK Patent Office (PO) has issued Designs Practice Notice (4/01) to clarify the requirements for design applications. It is hoped that the notice will help to reduce the number of defective applications received by the PO, in particular, those in which the representation of the design is incorrect.

The notice identifies four common problems:

• the applicant includes more than one design in the representations;
  
  
• the applicant's name and page numbering are missing;
  
  
• the representations include dimensions and other technical drawing features that obscure the design; and
  
  
• the examiner is unable to identify the design from the representations given.

The notice specifically sets out how representations should be submitted on paper, as photographs and as specimens. When submitted on paper there should be a sufficient number of different views of the design to leave no doubt as to the precise design feature for which protection is sought. Pages should have accurate information regarding page numbers and other required information, such as the correctly positioned name of the applicant, but should not include any measurements or other technical specifications. Photographs should be of sufficient quality to be capable of reproduction using the PO's scanning facilities. Black and white photographs are acceptable unless colour is intended to form part of the design. Specimens must be mounted in a flat position by means of an adhesive upon approximately A4-sized paper.

Curiously, the notice states that "each different view shown should be placed on one side of A4 paper". However, the example given in Annex 1, which has seven views presented on a single side of A4 paper, seems to suggest that this might not be the case.

Chris McLeod, Hammonds, London