17 U.S.C. § 1310 — Application for registration

(a) Time limit for application. Protection under this chapter is lost if the design is not submitted for registration within two years after the date it was first made public.

(b) When design is made public. A design is made public when an existing useful article embodying it is publicly exhibited, publicly distributed, offered for sale to the public, or sold to the public anywhere by the design owner or with the owner’s consent.

(c) Application by owner. The design owner may apply for registration.

(d) Contents of application. The application must be made to the Administrator and state: (1) each designer’s name and address; (2) the owner’s name and address if different; (3) the specific name of the useful article embodying the design; (4) the date the design was first made public, if it was earlier than the application date; (5) that the design has been fixed in a useful article; and (6) other information the Administrator requires. The application may include a description of the design’s important features, but registration cannot be denied because it lacks that description.

(e) Sworn statement. The application must include a statement under oath by the applicant or authorized agent or representative. To the best of that person’s knowledge and belief, it must state: (1) the design is original and was created by the named designer or designers; (2) it has not previously been registered for the applicant or the applicant’s predecessor in title; and (3) the applicant is entitled to protection and registration under this chapter. If the design was made public with the notice required by section 1306, the statement must also describe the notice’s exact form and position.

(f) Effect of errors. (1) An error in a statement or assertion about the usefulness of the article named in the application does not affect the chapter’s protection. (2) Omitting a joint designer or naming an alleged joint designer does not affect the registration’s validity, actual ownership, or design protection unless the error was made with deceptive intent.

(g) Design made in scope of employment. If the design was made within the designer’s regular employment duties, individual authorship is difficult or impossible to assign, and the application says so, the employer’s name and address may be given instead of the individual designer’s.

(h) Pictorial representation. The application must include two copies^* of a drawing or other picture of the useful article embodying the design. The picture must have one or more views adequate to show the design and be suitable for reproduction. It is part of the application.

(i) Design in more than one useful article. If the distinguishing elements of a design have substantially the same form in different useful articles, the design is protected as to all of them when it is protected as to one. Only one registration is required.

(j) Application for more than one design. One application may include more than one design under conditions the Administrator prescribes. The fee for one design must be paid for each design included.