Industrial Designs

3. When to Register an Industrial Design

Designs which have been made available to the public in any country for more than one year prior to the filing of a Canadian application for design registration may not be protected, as the design, once it has been made public for one year or more, is said to be novelty barred. Therefore, it is crucial that you file a Canadian Industrial Design Application before the expiry of one year from the publication (anywhere) of the design, and/or sales (anywhere) of the articles embodying the design. As long as your design has not yet been made public, there is no time limit for filing an application to register your design. Always keep in mind, however, that by delaying filing, you run the risk that someone else (either legitimately or otherwise) will file an application in Canada for the same (or very similar) industrial design and obtain a prior design registration which would prevent your later filed design application from maturing to registration in Canada.