10.8. Product: Assembled set or kit

A kit or set has separate items which, when assembled, make up a product. Kits/sets must contain parts that may be assembled. The assembled kit is taken to be the product.

The representations should show how the elements of the kit fit together. For example, they might use dotted lines or environmental views to show this.

Under s 6(4), a kit of components is treated as being the final product. This is important because it helps the owner of the design to enforce their rights. For example, a competitor might sell the design owner’s set of components so that the purchaser can assemble the kit themselves – in that case, the purchaser is infringing the owner’s design rights, not the competitor. The design owner needs to stop the competitor from selling the components. This is where the kit classification comes in.

​​​​​​​Many items that are sold commercially as ‘kits’ are not kits within the meaning of s 6(4). The product needs to have been assembled from the kit – that is, the product does not comprise any other elements. Kits/sets which are a mere collection of objects are not registerable.​​​​​​​

Examples

• A product with the product name ‘model airplane kit’ would meet the definition of a product if the representations show how the items form together to make a single design (a model airplane design). But a first-aid kit does not meet this principle; therefore, it is not a single product. The items in the kit do not assemble together to make a single design. The first-aid kit is merely a collection of individual objects.
• A ‘car body kit’ is a collection of items that can be added to a car. The items are not assembled together to form a product. They are meant to be attached to another product – the car. ​​​​​​​These items, and those that make up a first aid kit, could be registered as a single design if the requirements of a common design are met.

Newness and distinctiveness

See Assessing newness and distinctiveness for more information on assessing newness and distinctiveness of kits/sets.