2.4. Application for registration: Minimum filing requirements

Date Published

The minimum filing requirements (MFRs) are the basic information points that must be contained in an application for registration of a design. They are set out in reg 3.01.

Design applications received through Online Services will have met MFRs, because they cannot be submitted unless all the relevant detail is supplied. When IP Australia receives a paper application, a member of the Customer Experience Group checks it to make sure that it meets MFRs.

If the MFRs are met (see details below), the application will be given a filing date and the applicant will be sent a filing notice. For a design application filed on or after 10 March 2022, a request for registration has not already been submitted, the notice will include information on this, including that a request for registration may be deemed to have taken place after the 6-months prescribed period beginning from the priority date of the application.

Each design in the application will be given a design number and at this point a portion of the information from the application will be published on the Australian Design Search database and made available for the public to view. Most information will not be available externally until the design is registered​​​​​.

If the MFRs are not met on a paper application, a Customer Experience Group staff member will advise the applicant. The applicant will need to resolve any issues within the required time frame. If the applicant does not respond within the time frame, we will send them a letter explaining that the application is deemed not to have been filed and the filing fee (if paid) will be refunded.


What are the minimum filing requirements?

The MFRs are almost always met when the applicant follows the online lodgement process. If they submit a paper application, the applicant must ensure they meet the MFRs.​​​​​​​ The MFRs are as follows.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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The application form must indicate that it is a design application for registration.

  • It could be on a form headed ‘application for design’.
  • It could contain a statement such as ‘I hereby apply for a design …’.
  • It could contain a letter that talks about or indicates an intention to apply for registration of the design.


The application must contain a representation, or information that appears to be a representation, of each design being applied for.


The application must contain information that allows the identity of the applicant to be established. 

It must contain an applicant name. The applicant must be a ‘person’. A ‘person’ can be:


The application must contain information that allows the applicant to be contacted.

It must contain:

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It can also contain:

Amended Reasons

Amended Reason Date Amended

Automatic registration updates.

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