§1320 Ownership and transfer

Summary

Ownership of a protected design goes to the designer, their legal representative if they are dead or incapacitated, the employer if it was made on the job, or a person who got the rights. A registered design or one that can be registered may be transferred, sold, or mortgaged by a written, signed document or left by will. A sworn statement under section 1312 counts as basic proof the transfer was signed. Such a transfer does not bind a later buyer or lender who paid value unless it is recorded in the Office of the Administrator within 3 months of signing or before that later purchase or mortgage.