Design applications in most foreign countries should be filed within six months of filing an application in New Zealand.

However, in most cases, valid overseas applications may be filed after this date if the design has not been publicly disclosed.

Licences/assignments

A registered design or pending application may be licensed or assigned.

Advantages of design registration over copyright protection

For a discussion of the advantages of design registration over the rights conferred by the Copyright Act, refer to the Copyright information section on our website.