5.1.10. Applicant name: Partnership

In most cases, an application should not be accepted where an owner of the design is an Australian partnership. This is because an Australian partnership (including an Australian limited liability partnership) is not a legal person – the liability lies with the partners rather than the partnership. For example, ‘John’s Restaurant (a partnership)’.

If however the applicant lists the individuals in the partnership this may be acceptable. For example, ‘John Doe and Jane Doe as partners in John’s Restaurant’.

Each partner (or a head partner(s) with the agreement of the other partners to act on their behalf) will need to be listed as a joint owner.

If the applicant name includes a person or persons who are authorised to act on behalf of owners, this is acceptable. For example, ‘John Doe and Jane Doe on behalf of the partners of John’s Restaurant’.

​​​​​​​An Australian partnership may not be listed as an owner on a collective application. For example, ‘Doe & Doe (a partnership)'.

However, when examining applications from overseas applicants, it is important to note that some overseas jurisdictions have partnerships with legal personality, such as the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) in the USA.