What is Industrial Design? An industrial design constitutes the visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament and any combination of these features applied to a finished article according to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO).
When answering the question what is industrial design, it must be original in order to register an industrial design.
A registered industrial design protects:
Industrial Design must be appealing to the eye and can consist of features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament, or any combination of them.
You cannot register:
Registration must be applied for within one year from the date of first publication in Canada (i.e. making it available to the public).
Update (2026): Since November 5, 2018, a disclosure by the applicant or its predecessor in title (or someone who learned of the design from them) does not bar registration if the application is filed within 12 months of that disclosure, measured to the filing or priority date.
Offering or making the design available to the public constitutes publication.
The owner of a registered industrial design has the exclusive use to use the industrial design to an article for the purpose of making importing, renting and selling.
Registration is valid for 10 years from the date of registration. A registration will protect your design and prevent others from using it. You will then need to pay a maintenance fee prior to 5 years and 6 months after your registration date. Update (2026): For applications filed on or after November 5, 2018, protection ends on the later of 10 years after registration or 15 years after filing, and the maintenance fee is due before the fifth anniversary of registration.
An industrial design owner can assign or licence their rights provided it is in writing and will need to be recorded with the Industrial Design Office for both pending and registered designs.
It is not mandatory to mark your product as a registered industrial design but it is recommended to do so.
The mark for an industrial design registration is a capital “D” inside a circle and the name or abbreviation of the designer’s owner on the article, label or packaging.
The advantage of marking your design is that it shows a court that the infringer is aware that the design was protected and registered.
You have three years to take legal action against anyone that infringes your industrial design.
The application must include the following:
The government fee for an examination of an application to register a design is $400 and the maintenance of a registration of a design is $350.
The application can be sent to the Industrial Design Office at:
Office of the Commissioner of Patents
Industrial Design Division
Canadian Intellectual Property Office
Place du Portage I
50 Victoria Street, Room C114
Gatineau QC K1A 0C9
Fax: 1-819-953-CIPO (2476)
The industrial design application has six parts to the registration process:
Foreign Registrations of an Industrial Design
In order to obtain the benefit of the filing date of an industrial design registration in Canada, an application has six months to file an application of the same design in another Paris Convention country. Canada is a signatory to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property which provides applications in those countries that have signed the Convention to get “convention priority”.
See our other articles:
Update (2026): Since November 5, 2018, Canada is also part of the Hague System, so one international application can cover Canada and other member countries.