Design Law in Mauritius

Design Registration in Mauritius

1. Filing Application;
2. Deferred Publication: the applicant may request on filing that the publication of the industrial design, upon registration, be deferred for a period not exceeding twelve months from the date of filing, or where priority is claimed, from the date of priority, of the application.
3. Confirming the Existence of Novelty: Absolute novelty required. However, information disclosed to the public during the 12 months before the filing date or the priority date will not destroy the novelty, where the information is disclosed by the applicant (or predecessor in title), or as result of an abuse committed by a third party with regards to the applicant or his predecessor in title.
4. Examination: there is a formal and substantive examination.
5. Duration and Renewal: Design registration is valid for an initial term of five years from the filing date, which is renewable upon payment of the required renewal fees for three further terms of five years each.
6. Term of protection: A maximum term of 20 years. Design registration is valid for an initial term of 5 years from the filing date, which is extendible for 3 further terms of 5 years each, on payment of renewal fees.

Required Documents:

1. Drawings, photographs, or other adequate graphic representations of the industrial design (required on the day of filing);
2. An indication of the article which constitutes the industrial design or in relation to which the industrial design is to be used (required on the day of filing);
3. Power of Attorney (notarised and legalized) (can be late filed within two months);
4. Assignment (can be late filed within two months);
5. Certified copy of priority document, if priority claimed, with verified English translation (can be late filed within three months).

Time Frame:

The expected timeframe for a design to be registered is 6 months from the filing date.

Multiple Designs:

An application may contain up to 100 industrial designs provided they all refer to products that belong to the same class of the International Classification.