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Australian Designs Amendment Act 2021

The Australian Designs Amendment Act 2021 is now law, having received Royal Assent on 10 September 2021.
 
The substantive changes of the new law will commence on 10 March 2022, including:
  • providing designers with a 12 month grace period to apply for design protection after publishing or using their design;
  • introducing an infringement exemption for prior use;
  • streamlining the design registration process by removal of the publication option;
  • extending the ‘innocent infringer’ defence;
  • giving exclusive licensees the right to bring infringement proceedings without relying on the owner of the design; and,
  • streamlining the process for updating formal requirements for applications.
 
Various minor technical changes (within Schedule 7, Parts 1 & 2) to clarify some matters in the current design legislation came into effect on 11 September 2021.
 
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.