5.1.5. Applicant name: Government entity

Some government entities can own designs. They must be established by legislation however. For example, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001). The ultimate owner of the design is the government, not a department or other body of that government. If the application gives only the department name as the applicant name, we must contact the applicant and ask them to supply the full name.

If the applicant is a government department, usually the name in the application will be ‘The Crown in Right of the Commonwealth/State of X’ (followed by the name of the department or c/- the name of the department). However, it is acceptable for an applicant to describe itself as ‘The State of X’ (and they might also include ‘c/- the Department of Y’).

Because the structure of government changes regularly, the form ‘X Government Department of Y’ is likely to become out of date and may not accurately reflect true ownership. It might be worthwhile asking the applicant if it would prefer to be described as ‘the State of X (with or without a following reference to the name of the department, such as ‘acting through the Department of Y’).

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Quasi-government entities

The applicant name may contain a reference to the authority (usually legislative) under which the entity functions. The application can be made in the name of the entity and executed in the manner prescribed by the rules regulating the entity.

For example:

LUNA PARK RESERVE, a New South Wales Corporation existing under subsection 9(2) Crown Land Act 1989 (NSW)

Note that, apart from the name, this information will not be entered on the database.