U.S.A. Copyright Law, Library of Congress. Copyright Office [reading diary TXT] 📗

rights under this chapter in a design

shall have the burden of establishing the design's originality whenever

the opposing party introduces an earlier work which is identical to such

design, or so similar as to make prima facie showing that such design

was copied from such work.

(g) Reproduction for Teaching or Analysis. It is not an infringement of

the exclusive rights of a design owner for a person to reproduce the

design in a useful article or in any other form solely for the purpose

of teaching, analyzing, or evaluating the appearance, concepts, or

techniques embodied in the design, or the function of the useful article

embodying the design.

Section 1310. Application for registration

(a) Time Limit for Application for Registration. Protection under this

chapter shall be lost if application for registration of the design is

not made within 2 years after the date on which the design is first made

public.

(b) When Design is Made Public. A design is made public when an existing

useful article embodying the design is anywhere publicly exhibited,

publicly distributed, or offered for sale or sold to the public by the

owner of the design or with the owner's consent.

(c) Application by Owner of Design. Application for registration may be

made by the owner of the design.

(d) Contents of Application. The application for registration shall be

made to the Administrator and shall state-

(1) the name and address of the designer or designers of the design;

(2) the name and address of the owner if different from the designer;

(3) the specific name of the useful article embodying the design;

(4) the date, if any, that the design was first made public, if such

date was earlier than the date of the application;

(5) affirmation that the design has been fixed in a useful article; and

(6) such other information as may be required by the Administrator.

The application for registration may include a description setting forth

the salient features of the design, but the absence of such a

description shall not prevent registration under this chapter.

(e) Sworn Statement. The application for registration shall be

accompanied by a statement under oath by the applicant or the

applicant's duly authorized agent or representative, setting forth, to

the best of the applicant's knowledge and belief-

(1) that the design is original and was created by the designer or

designers named in the application;

(2) that the design has not previously been registered on behalf of the

applicant or the applicant's predecessor in title; and

(3) that the applicant is the person entitled to protection and to

registration under this chapter.

If the design has been made public with the design notice prescribed in

section 1306, the statement shall also describe the exact form and

position of the design notice.

(f) Effect of Errors. (1) Error in any statement or assertion as to the

utility of the useful article named in the application under this

section, the design of which is sought to be registered, shall not

affect the protection secured under this chapter.

(2) Errors in omitting a joint designer or in naming an alleged joint

designer shall not affect the validity of the registration, or the

actual ownership or the protection of the design, unless it is shown

that the error occurred with deceptive intent.

(g) Design Made in Scope of Employment. In a case in which the design

was made within the regular scope of the designer's employment and

individual authorship of the design is difficult or impossible to

ascribe and the application so states, the name and address of the

employer for whom the design was made may be stated instead of that of

the individual designer.

(h) Pictorial Representation of Design. The application for registration

shall be accompanied by two copies of a drawing or other pictorial

representation of the useful article embodying the design, having one or

more views, adequate to show the design, in a form and style suitable

for reproduction, which shall be deemed a part of the application.

(i) Design in More Than One Useful Article. If the distinguishing

elements of a design are in substantially the same form in different

useful articles, the design shall be protected as to all such useful

articles when protected as to one of them, but not more than one

registration shall be required for the design.

(j) Application for More Than One Design. More than one design may be

included in the same application under such conditions as may be

prescribed by the Administrator. For each design included in an

application the fee prescribed for a single design shall be paid.

Section 1311. Benefit of earlier filing date in foreign country

An application for registration of a design filed in the United States

by any person who has, or whose legal representative or predecessor or

successor in title has, previously filed an application for registration

of the same design in a foreign country which extends to designs of

owners who are citizens of the United States, or to applications filed

under this chapter, similar protection to that provided under this

chapter shall have that same effect as if filed in the United States on

the date on which the application was first filed in such foreign

country, if the application in the United States is filed within 6

months after the earliest date on which any such foreign application was

filed.

Section 1312. Oaths and acknowledgments

(a) In General. Oaths and acknowledgments required by this chapter-

(1) may be made-

(A) before any person in the United States authorized by law to

administer oaths; or

(B) when made in a foreign country, before any diplomatic or consular

officer of the United States authorized to administer oaths, or before

any official authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country

concerned, whose authority shall be proved by a certificate of a

diplomatic or consular officer of the United States; and

(2) shall be valid if they comply with the laws of the State or country

where made.

(b) Written Declaration in Lieu of Oath. (1) The Administrator may by

rule prescribe that any document which is to be filed under this chapter

in the Office of the Administrator and which is required by any law,

rule, or other regulation to be under oath, may be subscribed to by a

written declaration in such form as the Administrator may prescribe, and

such declaration shall be in lieu of the oath otherwise required.

(2) Whenever a written declaration under paragraph (1) is used, the

document containing the declaration shall state that willful false

statements are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, pursuant to

section 1001 of title 18, and may jeopardize the validity of the

application or document or a registration resulting therefrom.

Section 1313. Examination of application and issue or refusal of

registration [4]

(a) Determination of Registrability of Design; Registration.

Upon the filing of an application for registration in proper form under

section 1310, and upon payment of the fee prescribed under section 1316,

the Administrator shall determine whether or not the application relates

to a design which on its face appears to be subject to protection under

this chapter, and, if so, the Register shall register the design.

Registration under this subsection shall be announced by publication.

The date of registration shall be the date of publication.

(b) Refusal To Register; Reconsideration. If, in the judgment of the

Administrator, the application for registration relates to a design

which on its face is not subject to protection under this chapter, the

Administrator shall send to the applicant a notice of refusal to

register and the grounds for the refusal. Within 3 months after the date

on which the notice of refusal is sent, the applicant may, by written

request, seek reconsideration of the application. After consideration of

such a request, the Administrator shall either register the design or

send to the applicant a notice of final refusal to register.

(c) Application To Cancel Registration. Any person who believes he or

she is or will be damaged by a registration under this chapter may, upon

payment of the prescribed fee, apply to the Administrator at any time to

cancel the registration on the ground that the design is not subject to

protection under this chapter, stating the reasons for the request. Upon

receipt of an application for cancellation, the Administrator shall send

to the owner of the design, as shown in the records of the Office of the

Administrator, a notice of the application, and the owner shall have a

period of 3 months after the date on which such notice is mailed in

which to present arguments to the Administrator for support of the

validity of the registration. The Administrator shall also have the

authority to establish, by regulation, conditions under which the

opposing parties may appear and be heard in support of their arguments.

If, after the periods provided for the presentation of arguments have

expired, the Administrator determines that the applicant for

cancellation has established that the design is not subject to

protection under this chapter, the Administrator shall order the

registration stricken from the record. Cancellation under this

subsection shall be announced by publication, and notice of the

Administrator's final determination with respect to any application for

cancellation shall be sent to the applicant and to the owner of record.

Costs of the cancellation procedure under this subsection shall be borne

by the nonprevailing party or parties, and the Administrator shall have

the authority to assess and collect such costs.

Section 1314. Certification of registration

Certificates of registration shall be issued in the name of the United

States under the seal of the Office of the Administrator and shall be

recorded in the official records of the Office. The certificate shall

state the name of the useful article, the date of filing of the

application, the date of registration, and the date the design was made

public, if earlier than the date of filing of the application, and shall

contain a reproduction of the drawing or other pictorial representation

of the design. If a description of the salient features of the design

appears in the application, the description shall also appear in the

certificate. A certificate of registration shall be admitted in any

court as prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.

Section 1315. Publication of announcements and indexes

(a) Publications of the Administrator. The Administrator shall publish

lists and indexes of registered designs and cancellations of designs and

may also publish the drawings or other pictorial representations of

registered designs for sale or other distribution.

(b) File of Representatives of Registered Designs. The Administrator

shall establish and maintain a file of the drawings or other pictorial

representations of registered designs. The file shall be available for

use by the public under such conditions as the Administrator may

prescribe.

Section 1316. Fees

The Administrator shall by regulation set reasonable fees for the filing

of applications to register designs under this chapter and for other

services relating to the administration of this chapter, taking into

consideration the cost of providing these services and the benefit of a

public record.

Section 1317. Regulations

The Administrator may establish regulations for the administration of

this chapter.

Section 1318. Copies of records

Upon payment of the prescribed fee, any person may obtain a certified

copy of any official record of the Office of the Administrator that

relates to this chapter. That copy shall be admissible in evidence with

the same effect as the original.

Section 1319. Correction of errors in certificates

The Administrator may, by a certificate of correction under seal,

correct any error in a registration incurred through the fault of the

Office, or, upon payment of the required fee, any error of a clerical or

typographical nature occurring in good faith but not through the fault