In Circular M.N. 74, dated 3 September 2009, the Commissioner of Designs and Patents has ruled as follows:
- Based on Regulations 19-26, the Commissioner (presumably by proxy via Examiner) may request additional images including those without shading, etc. and / or a model, Failure to comply will prevent continuation of Examination.
- If the Examiner comes to the conclusion that an application does not describe a device appropriate for design registration in an acceptable manner, the Examiner may serve a final rejection, to which applicant must respond in one month by requesting a hearing before the Commissioner or an arbitrator. Failure to do so will result in the case being closed.
I must admit, that I don’t see what this Circular changes or clarifies, as the Examiners have always asked for additional images when they didn’t understand the design, and a refusal was always appealable.
I assume that the Commissioner in simply putting the design department into order and trying to close long-open cases.
