COPYRIGHT ACT

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17 USC Sec. 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.

-SOURCE-

    (Added Pub. L. 105-304, title V, Sec. 502, Oct. 28, 1998, 112 Stat.

    2909.)

-SECREF-

                   SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

      This section is referred to in sections 1304, 1306, 1313, 1332 of

    this title.

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