§1310 Application for registration

Summary

You lose protection if you do not apply for registration within 2 years after the design is first made public. A design is made public when a useful item with that design is publicly shown, handed out, offered for sale, or sold by the owner or with the owner’s permission. The owner may apply to the Administrator. The application must give the designer’s name and address, the owner’s name and address if different, the specific name of the useful article, the first-public date if it was before the application, a statement that the design is fixed in a useful article, and any other information the Administrator requires. The application must include a sworn statement saying the design is original and made by the named designer(s), has not been previously registered for the applicant or a predecessor, and that the applicant is entitled to protection. Mistakes about the article’s usefulness, or errors in naming joint designers, do not cancel protection unless done to deceive. If the design was made as regular work for an employer and an individual author cannot be identified, the employer’s name and address may be used. The application must include two copies of a drawing or picture showing the design with one or more views, in a form suitable for reproduction. If the same design appears in different useful articles, one registration protects them all. More than one design may be put in one application if allowed, but you must pay the single-design fee for each design.