3.2. Fees: Application fees

The application fee is not a minimum filing requirement (MFR) but is a prerequisite for registration. It is payable when filing.  

If someone submits a design application form that meets the MFRs (reg 3.01) but does not pay the filing fee, we give the application a filing date but cannot complete the process to register the design until we receive the fee. We will issue an ‘invitation to pay’ (ITP) notice. The ITP must be issued within one month of filing the application, giving the applicant 2 months to pay. If they have not paid by the end of the 2 months, we treat the application as not having been filed.

Application for a common design

For common design applications (s 22(1)(b)), one fee covers all the products.

Application for more than one design

For applications for more than one design (multiple designs) (s 22(1)(c) and (d)), lower fees apply for the second and subsequent designs. The total fee comprises:

• the full fee for the first design
• a discounted fee for each of the other designs.

If we identify further designs in an application and those designs are subsequently excluded and applied for separately, they no longer qualify for the discounted fee. The applicant has to pay the difference between the discounted fee they have already paid and the full application fee for each design.

If we identify further designs and the applicant pursues the option to convert the initial application into a multiple application, higher fees will apply.

Multiple application

The applicant may be able to keep any further designs that have been identified in the same submitted application by paying additional fees. This creates an application for multiple designs. While the designs are ‘linked’ until registration, they are allocated separate design numbers. The application must meet the requirements of s 22(1)(c) or (d).

This option is not available if the further designs apply to products classified in a different Locarno class (they can be in different subclasses).