A Registered Design in South Africa protects the shape, form, pattern, ornamentation and configuration of a

product or article. The protection does not extend to the functionality of the product or article and is focused on

the physical appearance and associated physical features of the product or article. In view of the above, a

specification, claims and abstract are not required to be filed with the application for Registered Design

protection in South Africa. The design is to be exemplified by way of representations/drawings, which are then

filed.

In addition, protection in respect of a Registered Design in South Africa extends only to the class/es of

goods/services in respect of which the application has been filed.

With regards to registered designs, please note that there are two types of registered designs in South Africa,

namely aesthetic designs and functional designs. Aesthetic designs are judged solely by the eye and relate to

designs applied to articles in terms of the pattern, shape, configuration or ornamentation of the design.

Functional designs have features which are necessitated by the function and includes integrated circuit

topography and mask works related thereto. Please also see attached our brochure which sets out the

procedure and requirements to obtain valid registered design protection in South Africa in more detail.

In terms of the design process, please note that we shall file your design application as soon as we have

received all of the relevant information and documentation. The design application will proceed to examination

by the Designs Office in respect of all of the formal requirements at around 6-8 months from the filing of the

application. Once the application has been approved it will be deemed “Accepted” and the Designs Office will

issue a Notice of Acceptance in respect of the application. The design application will then be advertised in the

Patent Journal for a period of two months, known as the opposition period. Should no third parties lodge any

objections to the grant of the design during this period the application will proceed to grant and a Certificate of

Grant will be issued by the Designs Office. South African designs must be renewed annually from the third

anniversary of the earliest of: the South African filing date; the priority date or the release date. Aesthetic

designs expire after 15 years, and Functional designs expire after 10 years.