Registered Designs Act, 1958

This section says the Act may be cited as the Registered Designs Act.

This section defines key terms used in the Act and gives the Registrar final power to decide whether a number of articles is a set of articles.

A Designs Office is established, and it operates under the Minister’s direction.

This section appoints a Registrar of Designs, one or more Deputy Registrars of Designs, and any necessary examiners and other officers.

The Patent Office seal is also the Designs Office seal, and seal impressions made for this Act must be accepted by courts as judicially noticed.

A designs register must be kept at the Designs Office, and the public may inspect it and obtain certified copies on payment of the prescribed fee.

A design may be registered on application by the proprietor, assignee, or legal representative, but only if it is new or original; the Minister may also exclude certain designs from registration by regulation.

This section says who is treated as the proprietor of a design under the Act.

Design registration applications must be filed in the prescribed form and lodged with the Designs Office.

A design registration application cannot be refused, and the resulting registration cannot be invalidated, just because the design was already registered or published before.

This section lets the Registrar restrict publication or communication of certain design information for defence reasons, and it restricts foreign filing of prescribed designs by people ordinarily resident or domiciled in Zambia unless conditions are met.

A design application cannot be refused or invalidated just because the design was disclosed in confidence or because of certain prior use of an artistic work.

Certain qualified applicants may file a design registration application with priority, but they must do so within six months.

This section says an ARIPO-registered industrial design is treated as registered under this Act if the Registrar does not object; if the Registrar objects, it is not deemed registered under this section.

Registration of a design gives the registered proprietor copyright in the registered design and the exclusive right in Zambia to deal with covered articles as described.

Copyright in a registered design lasts five years from registration, and the Registrar must extend it for two further five-year periods if the application and fee requirements are met on time.

A defendant in a registered-design infringement case may avoid damages if they prove they did not know, and had no reasonable ground to think, the design was registered; the High Court’s power to grant an injunction or interdict is preserved.

A person interested may apply to the Registrar for a compulsory licence for a registered design, and the Registrar may make an order on the application, subject to the Convention.

Government departments, and people the Minister authorizes in writing, may use registered designs for State services under this section.

This section deals with State use of registered designs and how exclusive licensees may recover part of government payments.

During a period of emergency, government departments or Minister-authorised persons may use a design for purposes the Minister considers necessary or expedient.

Parties may refer certain disputes about state use of designs to the High Court.

People entitled to a registered design interest may apply to register their title or notice, the Registrar must register it on proof, and registered proprietors may deal with the design.

The Registrar may authorise corrections of clerical, translation, omission, or register errors.

The High Court may order a register to be rectified if an aggrieved person applies, and the Registrar must make the rectification after receiving notice of the order.

The Registrar may cancel a design registration, and interested people may apply for cancellation on specified grounds.

A Registrar-certified certificate is prima facie evidence of the matters certified, and certified copies or extracts of certain register or office documents may be admitted without further proof or production of the original.

Registered design representations or specimens are generally open to inspection at the Designs Office, but some inspections are restricted and copying may be barred during a prescribed period.

On request and payment of the prescribed fee, the Registrar must tell a person whether a design is registered and give related registration details.

The Registrar must issue a certificate of registration in the prescribed form to the registered proprietor when the design is registered.

The Registrar may give one or more copies of a certificate of registration if the original is lost or destroyed, or in any other case the Registrar considers suitable.

The Registrar must give a design-registration applicant an opportunity to be heard before using a discretion that would affect the applicant adversely.

The Registrar may take oral evidence on oath and allow cross-examination in proceedings under this Act; the Registrar also has the same powers, rights, and privileges as commissioners under the Inquiries Act.

The Registrar may award reasonable costs in proceedings before the Registrar under this Act and decide how they are paid; the High Court taxes those costs and may enforce payment.

The Registrar may decide when and where to sit in a proceeding before him, and may adjourn proceedings to a time and place he thinks fit.

If the Act provides for an appeal from a Registrar decision, that appeal must be made to the High Court.

Section 36 is marked as repealed.

Section 37 is marked as repealed.

The Chief Justice may make rules, by statutory instrument, for appeals or references to the High Court or Supreme Court.

Appeals under this Part must be brought within 3 months, though the High Court or Supreme Court may allow extra time on application.

The Registrar may refer a difficult or important legal matter to the High Court after notifying the parties, and must then follow the High Court’s decision or any decision replacing it on appeal to the Supreme Court.

If a design registration’s validity is challenged and the registered proprietor wins, the High Court or Supreme Court may certify that fact; in a later case about that registration, the proprietor may recover full solicitor-client costs unless the court orders otherwise.

Cases about infringement of copyright in a registered design must be brought in the High Court.

A person who is aggrieved by groundless threats of infringement proceedings about a registered design may sue in the High Court for relief.

If a party before the Registrar lives outside Zambia, the Registrar may require security for costs and may treat the case as abandoned if that security is not given on time.

In High Court proceedings under this Act, the High Court decides the Registrar’s costs, but the Registrar cannot be ordered to pay other parties’ costs.

A party to High Court proceedings may appeal orders or decisions to the Supreme Court, subject to rules made under this Part.

A person commits an offence if they knowingly make, cause, produce, or tender false register entries or false copies of register entries in evidence.

A person must not falsely say a design on an article is registered, or mark an article to imply that a registered design still has copyright.

It is an offence to knowingly make or submit a false statement or representation to deceive or influence the Registrar or a Designs Office officer. A person who later learns an innocent false statement was made must advise the Registrar forthwith.

A person who has been sworn or affirmed/decleared and then knowingly gives false evidence before the Registrar commits an offence.

A person guilty of an offence under the Act may be fined up to 15,000 penalty units, imprisoned for up to 3 years, or both, unless the Act provides otherwise.

An act required under the Act for a design or related procedure may be done by or to an authorised agent, if done under the regulations or, in particular cases, with special leave of the Registrar.

Documents covered by this section may be delivered by hand or sent by registered post, and documents lodged in the Designs Office do not need authentication.

Fees must be paid before the Registrar acts, before another person’s act counts as done, and before a document counts as lodged.

A person required to take an oath or swear to an affidavit may instead make an affirmation or declaration.

The Minister may direct the Registrar to publish reports of design cases and other relevant matters in the Patent Journal.

The Registrar must not register a design if, in the Registrar’s opinion, using it would be contrary to law or morality. The Government, and people deriving title from the Government, keep the right to sell or use certain forfeited articles.

The Minister may make regulations under this Act, including rules about forms, procedure, notices, the Designs Office, publications, and fees.

Some earlier registered designs are treated as registered under this Act, and their copyright continues in Zambia while it continues in the United Kingdom.

Section 60 was repealed.