10.8. Product: Assembled set or kit

Kits

Section 6(4) defines a kit as:

“A kit which, when assembled, is a particular product is taken to be that product”.

A kit refers to a group of components that, when assembled, form a single product. For a kit to be an acceptable product under s 6(4), the representations should clearly show how the components assemble (as a single design) to create a single thing - that is, something manufactured or hand made.

To do this, representations may use dotted (or broken) lines, exploded views, or environmental views. The assembled product must be the only outcome of the kit; it cannot rely upon other external elements or be a mere collection of items.

Important Clarification: Many commercially marketed kits do not meet the definition of a kit under the Designs Act. For example, a first-aid kit is a collection of items that – while they may all have a shared medical purpose or use – do not assemble together to form a single product. Similarly, a car body kit comprises parts that attach to another product (the car), and do not themselves assemble together to form a single product. These examples fail to meet the requirement that the components of a kit must assemble into a single, standalone product. 

Examples:

• ✅ Model airplane kit: Acceptable if the representations show how the parts assemble into a single model airplane.

• ❌ First-aid kit: Not acceptable, as the items do not assemble into a single product.

• ❌ Car body kit: Not acceptable as a kit, but may be registerable under common design principles if each part shares a unified design. 

Product Sets

A set of two or more products that are of the same general character and are either sold together or intended to be used together cannot be considered a single product.

A product must be a thing—that is, a tangible item that is manufactured or hand made. A set, by contrast, is a collection of multiple things, and therefore does not itself constitute a thing.

This distinction is critical: individual items that do not assemble into a single stand-alone product cannot be registered as a single design.

Examples:

• ❌ Individual measuring spoons and cups: These parts of a set are individual products used together but do not form a single thing.

• ❌ Storage boxes or trays: Even if interlocking, they may not form a single product unless the design representations show a unified structure.

• ✅ Interlocking measuring spoons: May be acceptable if the representations demonstrate that they form a single, assembled product.

Key Principle: The individual items within a set are themselves separate products. The designs of these products may be registered separately or included together as part of a common design application made under s 22(1)(b) if more than one product is identified and the different products share a unified (common) design aesthetic. Reference views may be included to show their contextual use as part of a set, but this does not change their legal status as separate products.

Newness and distinctiveness

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