Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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DESIGNS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 315

STATUTORY RULES 1994 No. 315

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Small Business, Customs and Construction

Designs Act 1906

Designs Regulations (Amendment)

The Statutory Rules amend the Designs Regulations (the Regulations) to revise certain fees payable under the Regulations; to revise the costs and an allowance that may be awarded in proceedings before the Registrar; and to make minor consequential and drafting changes to the Regulations. Details of the amendments are as follows:

Regulation 1 sets 1 October 1994 as the commencement day for these Regulations.

Regulation 2 identifies the Designs Regulations as those to be amended.

Regulation 3 revises certain fee items in Schedule 2, to better align the amounts of the fee items with the costs of the actions for which the fees are prescribed. Item 16 has been omitted, with consequential renumbering of some items. Paragraph 14(b) and item 17 (item 18, prior to renumbering) have been reworded to make clearer the actions for which the fees are prescribed.

The Australian Industrial Property Organisation (AIPO), which incorporates the Patent, Trade Marks and Designs Offices, operates on a Group 2 Trust Account arrangement. AIPO is required to recover all of its costs from fees charged by the Patent, Trade Marks and Designs Offices. AIPO is committed to containing cost increases for normal operations within inflation and to achieve productivity gains at least equal to the efficiency dividend required of the Australian Public Service.

Fees for certain services performed by the Patent, Trade Marks and Designs Offices are increased with effect from 1 October 1994. The aggregate effect of these fee increases will be to raise an additional $2.6 million revenue in the period to the end of 1995, given the predicted composition of demand. Cost increases over this period, flowing from AIPO's move to accrual-based pricing, expected changes in accommodation costs, and inflation, are expected to amount to approximately $4 million. The shortfall will be absorbed through productivity increases in AIPO. The aggregate increase in fees since commencing full cost recovery in 1984 remains less than CPI.

To achieve the additional revenue required to the end of 1995, the fee levels of 15 of the 19 fee items prescribed in Schedule 2 to the Regulations, prior to amendment, have been increased.

Regulation 4 revises Schedule 4 to the Regulations, which sets out the items and amounts of costs, expenses and allowances that may be awarded against parties to proceedings before the Registrar. The amounts of the cost items (in Part 1 of Schedule 4), and the daily maximum amount that may be paid for meals and accommodation to a person attending proceedings before the Registrar (specified in paragraph 2(b) in Part 2 in Schedule 4) are set to retain parity with the amounts of costs that may be awarded in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. The revised amounts in Schedule 4 reflect increases in the amounts of costs that may be awarded in that Court. Also, the wording in some of the amounts has been amended to reflect the latest drafting style.