5.1. Applicant name: overview

Section 21(1) requires a design application to be filed by a ‘person’. This person may be an individual, body corporate, body politic, or another entity with sufficient legal personality to hold and own design rights.

Section 21(4) requires the application to specify the ‘entitled person or persons’. This is the person or persons entitled to be entered on the Register as the registered owner of the design. This is understood to be the applicant.

The applicant name is required to meet the legal understanding of a person and have sufficient legal personality. The applicant may be an Australian ‘person’ or an overseas ‘person’. An overseas person that has legal personality under the laws of its home jurisdiction may also be recognised as a person for the purposes of Australian design law.

Whether an applicant is a person depends on its legal status, not merely the name used in the application. Where legal personality is not apparent from the applicant name, additional information or evidence may be required.

An application can include a statement of entitlement. This is a statement identifying who is entitled to be entered on the Register as the registered owner of the design. This statement can be filed as part of the application or lodged separately.

If the application includes More Than One Design (MTOD), the same person or persons must be entitled to be the registered owner of all the designs.

An applicant name will generally be accepted if it appears on its face to identify a legal person. However, if there is uncertainty as to the applicant name provided, and whether it possesses sufficient legal personality, it should be queried in a written notice.

​The applicant name can be the name of:

• an individual

• a company or other incorporated body

• a government entity

• an overseas entity.

The applicant name cannot be:

• a business name

• a ‘trading as’ name

• a trust/trustee

• a partnership

• an unincorporated association, club or society.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​