Olympic Insignia Protection Regulations 1993

The Regulations revolve around a small set of recurring administrative concepts. Explaining them in plain terms clarifies what the Regulations make operational.

• Fees tied to Act provisions. Regulation 3 attaches fixed monetary charges to two Act processes: the filing of an application to register a design under paragraph 10(2)(b) ($400) and the filing of an application for an extension of a protection period under paragraph 11(2)(b) ($450). These fees are explicit and non‑conditional in the text of Reg 3. The Regulations do not provide broader fee scales or remissions; only the two fees are prescribed.

• Public inspection of administrative registers. Regulation 5 prescribes that the times when the Register of Olympic Designs is open for public inspection are the same as those prescribed for the Register of Designs under the Designs Act 2003 (specifically subsection 113(1) of that Act). In other words the physical or online availability of the Olympic Register is synchronised with the times for the general designs register.

• Correction of registry entries. Regulation 6 creates two mechanisms for correcting entries in the Register of Olympic Designs: (1) on receipt of a request in the approved form (Reg 6(1)), and (2) on the Registrar’s own initiative (Reg 6(2)). Corrections are limited to clerical errors and obvious mistakes.

• Business‑day and timing rules for acts at the Designs Office. Regulation 6A declares the relevant circumstance for subsection 14A(1) of the Act as an act being done at the Designs Office. Regulation 6B sets out which days the Designs Office is not open for business,Saturday, Sunday, Australia Day and Anzac Day,and specifies who may act in relation to paragraph 14A(2)(b) (high level IP Australia officials and authorised SES employees), and that any declaration is to be published in the Official Journal of Designs. Regulation 6C excludes acts in relation to proceedings in a court or tribunal from the “next business day” relief in subsection 14A(1).

• Register particulars for licences. Regulation 7 lists the particulars required for the Register of licences for copyright in the Olympic symbol and for protected designs: name and address of licence holder, period of the licence, a description of articles to which a protected design may be applied, a statement if the licence relates to copyright in the Olympic symbol, and for protected designs a statement and one or more representations of the design sufficient to give a true indication of the design. Regulation 8 provides corresponding particulars for the Register of licences for use of protected Olympic expressions, again including name and address, period, the expressions licensed, and a description of goods and services to which the expression may be applied.

• Time limit for notices of objection to importation. Regulation 9 prescribes that a notice of objection to importation has effect for 4 years beginning when the notice is given to the Comptroller‑General of Customs in accordance with section 52 of the Act.

Other embedded concepts are administrative definitions and cross‑references. Regulation 2 defines “Act” as the Olympic Insignia Protection Act 1987 and “approved form” as a form mentioned in subsection 14(1) of the Act. The Regulations also rely on definitions in other statutes,referencing the Designs Act 2003 (Reg 5), the Public Service Act 1999 and the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Reg 6B note),but they do not reproduce those definitions.

Overall the main concepts are administrative calibration of fee and timing, specified data fields for public registers, correction powers for the Registrar, and a narrow business‑day regime for actions at the Designs Office. Each is stated as a regulation that implements a procedural or documentary requirement triggered by the Act.

The Regulations affect a circumscribed set of actors concerned with Olympic intellectual property and the operation of the Designs Office. The provisions identify who pays, who decides, and who is affected by administrative timings and documentary requirements.

• Applicants and registrants. Persons making an application to register a design under paragraph 10(2)(b) of the Act are directly affected by the fee prescribed in Regulation 3(1), which is $400. Applicants seeking an extension of a protection period under paragraph 11(2)(b) of the Act must pay $450 under Regulation 3(2). Those fees are payable by the applicant who initiates the relevant process under the Act.

• Licence holders and licensed users. Regulation 7 requires certain particulars for licences relating to copyright in the Olympic symbol and protected designs to be entered in the Register of licences. Regulation 8 requires particulars for licences for use of protected Olympic expressions. The persons affected include licence holders, licensed users (as defined by section 23 of the Act), and any party preparing licence documentation that will be recorded in the public register. Licence holders must ensure that the register contains the particulars set out in the Regulations, including, for protected designs, graphical representations sufficient to give a true indication of the design (Regulation 7(c), 7(e)(ii)).

• The public and persons seeking inspection. Regulation 5 affects members of the public wanting to inspect the Register of Olympic Designs by tying inspection times to the design register opening times prescribed under the Designs Act 2003. Anyone seeking to rely on inspection availability must look to the Design Act timings, since the Olympic Register follows that timetable.

• IP Australia senior officials and SES employees. Regulation 6B(2) prescribes a list of persons who may act for the Designs Office in relation to paragraph 14A(2)(b) of the Act. Those persons are the Director General of IP Australia, the Deputy Director General, and other SES employees acting with the agreement of those executives or another SES employee. These persons are empowered to act for office business on days identified as not open for business and are specified by role, not by individual name. The note in Reg 6B(2) points to the meaning of SES employee in the Public Service Act 1999, which is applied by section 2B of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.

• The Registrar. Regulation 6 gives the Registrar express statutory authority to amend entries to correct clerical errors or obvious mistakes either on request in the approved form or on the Registrar’s own initiative. That creates an administrative power affecting registrants and the public record.

• The Comptroller‑General of Customs. Regulation 9 prescribes that a notice of objection to importation has effect for 4 years beginning when the notice is given to the Comptroller‑General of Customs in accordance with section 52 of the Act. The Comptroller‑General is therefore the recipient whose receipt triggers the running of the 4‑year period.

• Courts and tribunals. Although not directly regulated, Regulation 6C excludes acts done in relation to proceedings in a court or tribunal from the subsection 14A(1) relief. Parties involved in litigation should note that the business‑day extension rule does not apply to acts done in court or tribunal proceedings.

Who bears costs. The Regulations impose direct monetary costs on applicants for registration of designs and for extension of protection. They impose documentary costs on licence holders who must supply particulars and, for protected designs, one or more representations sufficient to indicate the design (Regulation 7). They impose administrative compliance tasks on IP Australia officials who must publish declarations in the Official Journal of Designs and manage registers and correction requests.

Who makes decisions. The Registrar and specified IP Australia senior executives are vested with decision‑making roles: the Registrar may make corrections on request or sua sponte (Reg 6) and SES employees may act (Reg 6B(2)). The Comptroller‑General of Customs is the designated recipient for notices of objection to importation (Reg 9).

The Regulations establish a modest set of duties on parties and reciprocal rights related to administrative processes. These duties and rights are specific, documented and limited to procedural matters.

Duties imposed on applicants and licence holders

• Pay prescribed fees. Applicants for registration of a design under paragraph 10(2)(b) of the Act must pay a fee of $400; applicants for an extension of protection under paragraph 11(2)(b) must pay $450. These fees are prescribed in Regulation 3 and are mandatory where the Act’s referenced provisions apply.

• Provide particulars for licence registers. Regulation 7 requires that certain particulars are to be included in the Register of licences for copyright in the Olympic symbol and for protected designs. Those particulars are: name and address of the licence holder, the period for which the licence is granted, a description of articles to which a protected design may be applied under the licence, a statement if the licence relates to copyright in the Olympic symbol, and, for protected designs, one or more representations sufficient to indicate the design (Reg 7(a)-(e)). Regulation 8 imposes comparable obligations for licences for the use of protected Olympic expressions: the name and address of the licensed user, the period for which the licence is granted, which protected Olympic expressions may be used, and a description of the goods and services to which the expression may be applied (Reg 8(1)(a)-(d)).

• Use approved forms for correction requests. Regulation 6(1) requires that a request to amend an entry in the Register of Olympic Designs must be made in the approved form. The Regulation refers to the “approved form” meaning a form mentioned in subsection 14(1) of the Act (Regulation 2 definition). Failure to use the approved form risks the request not being accepted.

Rights given to applicants, registrants and the public

• Right to public inspection. Regulation 5 entitles the public to inspect the Register of Olympic Designs at times prescribed by reference to the Designs Act 2003. That creates a public right of access that operates in synchrony with prescribed design register times (Reg 5).

• Right to correction of the register. Regulation 6(1) provides a right for a person to request, using the approved form, that the Registrar amend an entry to correct a clerical error or obvious mistake. The same regulation provides a right in the sense of a route to correct the public record.

Administrative powers and duties of the Registrar and IP Australia personnel

• Registrar’s power to amend entries. Regulation 6(2) authorises the Registrar to amend entries in the Register of Olympic Designs on the Registrar’s own initiative for the purposes of correcting a clerical error or an obvious mistake. That is a unilateral administrative power to maintain accuracy of the register.

• Persons authorised to act for the Designs Office on non‑business days. Regulation 6B(2) sets out persons authorised to act for the Designs Office in relation to paragraph 14A(2)(b) of the Act. Those persons are the Director General of IP Australia, the Deputy Director General, and SES employees acting with the agreement of those executives or another SES employee. There is an administrative duty on IP Australia to publish any such declaration in the Official Journal of Designs (Reg 6B(3)).

Timing and procedural constraints

• Business‑day rule and its exception. Regulation 6A prescribes the circumstance for subsection 14A(1) of the Act as that the act is done at the Designs Office. Regulation 6B identifies days when the office is not open for business (Saturday, Sunday, Australia Day, Anzac Day). Where subsection 14A(1) applies, an act that would otherwise fall due on a day the office is closed can be done on the next open business day, subject to the exclusion in Regulation 6C which removes that relief for acts relating to court or tribunal proceedings.

• Duration of notices of objection to importation. Regulation 9 confers a 4 year period of effect for a notice of objection to importation, measured from the date the notice is given to the Comptroller‑General of Customs in accordance with section 52 of the Act. That is a fixed temporal right attaching to a lodged notice.

What the Regulations do not do

• The Regulations do not themselves set out penalties, sanctions, or offence provisions. They do not create substantive intellectual property rights or exceptions; they operate to facilitate, record and time administrative processes under the Act.

Taken together the duties and rights in these Regulations are largely administrative: pay prescribed fees, supply prescribed particulars and representations for public registers, use approved forms for corrections, rely on prescribed business‑day rules, and understand the temporal effect of importation objections. The Registrar and specified IP Australia senior officials are given specific powers and duties to maintain and publish records and to act in relation to business‑day constraints.

The Regulations are administrative and procedural in scope and do not themselves create specific criminal or civil penalties. The text of the Olympic Insignia Protection Regulations 1993 prescribes fees, registers, correction procedures, business‑day rules, particulars to be entered in registers, and the period for notices of objection to importation, but it does not include offence provisions, monetary penalties for non‑compliance beyond the fees prescribed, or a specific enforcement rubric within the Regulations themselves.

Key points from the Regulations that bear on enforcement and compliance risk

• Absence of penalties in the Regulations. There are no penalty clauses in the Regulations. They do not specify penalties for failure to provide required particulars for registers, for failing to use the approved form for a correction request, for not paying a prescribed fee, or for other breaches. The Regulations focus on procedural requirements and do not prescribe enforcement measures or sanctions.

• Enforcement and remedial pathways will be anchored in the Act. The Regulations repeatedly reference procedural provisions of the Act (for example paragraph 10(2)(b), paragraph 11(2)(b), section 12, section 14A, section 18A, section 40, section 52). Because these Regulations implement administrative detail required by the Act, any enforcement mechanism for substantive breaches or penalty regimes would be found in the Act itself. The Regulations do not attempt to reproduce or alter enforcement provisions of the Act; they support the Act’s administration.

• Registrar’s corrective power as an administrative enforcement tool. Regulation 6 provides the Registrar power to amend entries in the Register of Olympic Designs to correct clerical errors or obvious mistakes, either on request in the approved form or of the Registrar’s own initiative. That power is an internal corrective measure which affects compliance by enabling the Registrar to rectify the public record without court intervention. It is an administrative mechanism to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the register, but it is not framed as a penalty.

• Business‑day rule and exceptions and their procedural effects. Regulations 6A to 6C create a predictable administrative timing regime. The Regulations specify when an act done at the Designs Office may be treated as done on the next open business day and who can act when the office is closed. Regulation 6C excludes acts in relation to court or tribunal proceedings from the subsection 14A(1) relief. The procedural effect is that timing disputes may arise for litigants; the Regulations remove the automatic extension for court/tribunal acts. Any enforcement or remedy for missed deadlines in litigation will be determined under the Act or by the relevant court or tribunal.

• Notice of objection to importation is time‑limited. Regulation 9 prescribes a 4 year period of effect for notices of objection to importation, beginning on receipt by the Comptroller‑General of Customs in accordance with section 52 of the Act. That temporal limitation affects the enforcement window that an objector can rely upon administratively when interacting with customs; how customs will treat such notices in practice is governed by the Act’s requirements.

Practical implication: compliance failures under the Regulations are primarily administrative risks,rejection of an application where the fee has not been paid, refusal to process a correction request not in the approved form, or omission from a register where required particulars are not provided,rather than breaches that attract fines in the Regulations themselves. For civil or criminal sanctioning the Act must be consulted, because the Regulations do not themselves set out sanctioning provisions.

These Regulations are designed as subordinate instruments that operate in a network of Commonwealth statutes and administrative instruments. The text explicitly cross‑references other Acts and official publications and, by doing so, creates dependencies and operational ties to those external instruments.

Primary statutory cross‑references in the Regulations

• Olympic Insignia Protection Act 1987. The Regulations exist to prescribe matters required by particular provisions of the Act. They repeatedly reference the Act’s specific paragraphs and sections (for example paragraphs 10(2)(b) and 11(2)(b) in Reg 3; section 12 in Reg 5; subsection 14A in Regs 6A-6C; section 18A in Reg 7; section 40 in Reg 8; section 52 in Reg 9). The Regulations themselves define “Act” as the Olympic Insignia Protection Act 1987 (Regulation 2).

• Designs Act 2003. Regulation 5 ties the public inspection times for the Register of Olympic Designs to the times prescribed under subsection 113(1) of the Designs Act 2003 for the Register of Designs. That creates a direct operational dependency: any change to the Designs Act opening times will automatically affect when the Olympic Register is available for inspection.

• Public Service Act 1999 and Acts Interpretation Act 1901. Regulation 6B(2) mentions SES employees and the note clarifies that SES employee is explained in section 34 of the Public Service Act 1999 and that that meaning is applied generally to Commonwealth legislation by section 2B of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. The Regulations therefore import by reference the employment classification framework from the Public Service Act as it applies across Commonwealth legislation.

• Official Journal of Designs. Regulation 6B(3) prescribes that any declaration under paragraph 14A(2)(b) is to be published in the Official Journal of Designs. That channels publication and public notice functions into a specific official medium.

• Customs administration. Regulation 9 makes the Comptroller‑General of Customs the recipient whose receipt of a notice of objection to importation starts the 4 year period. The Regulation therefore integrates the Act’s objection process with customs administration and positions the Comptroller‑General as a trigger point for timing.

Mechanisms of interaction

• Temporal alignment. By synchronising inspection times with the Designs Act (Reg 5) the Regulations rely on another statute to establish practical availability. Any legislative or administrative changes to the Designs Act timetable will ripple through to the Olympic Register’s availability.

• Delegation of operational responsibility. Regulation 6B(2) specifies which IP Australia senior officials or authorised SES employees may act for the Designs Office on days when it is not open for business. That delegates operational authority within IP Australia and relies on the Public Service Act’s SES classification to define eligible personnel.

• Evidence and record requirements. Regulations 7 and 8 require specific particulars to be entered in licence registers, and for protected designs require representations sufficient to give a true indication of the design. Those requirements intersect with document production and evidentiary standards used in other IP contexts, although the Regulations do not specify format beyond the requirement for representations.

• Exclusion for judicial acts. Regulation 6C excludes acts in relation to proceedings in a court or tribunal from the subsection 14A(1) extension rule. That draws a legal boundary between administrative filing relief and judicial procedural rules. For litigation or tribunal proceedings, parties cannot rely on the business‑day substitution provided elsewhere in the chapter.

Points of friction and dependency risks

• Changes in other statutes automatically affect these Regulations where the Regulations adopt or tie to provisions in those statutes. For example, adjustments to the Designs Act opening times, amendments to the Public Service Act definitions of SES, or changes in customs administration could produce operational changes to how these Regulations function without amendment to the Regulations themselves.

• Reliance on the Official Journal of Designs for publication means that the timing and reach of any declaration depends on how that publication is managed and distributed, which is governed by administrative arrangements outside the Regulations.

• The Regulations do not replicate or amend substantive rights or enforcement mechanisms found in the Act. They simply implement administrative detail; therefore interpretation of substantive rights and penalties remains a matter for the Act and any connected legislation.

In short, these Regulations are tightly integrated with other Commonwealth instruments. They depend on those instruments for staffing definitions, publication channels, inspection times and the point of receipt for customs notices. Users must therefore consult the Act and the referenced statutes and administrative sources to understand the full legal and operational context in which these Regulations operate.

The Regulations are styled as the Olympic Insignia Protection Regulations 1993. The text supplied does not include any express amendment history, commencement dates beyond the instrument title, or annotations of subsequent changes. The instrument as presented contains the operative regulatory provisions but does not include a schedule of amendments or marginal notes reflecting historical alterations.

Observable features relevant to amendment and updating

• Referential design creates dynamic dependency. Regulation 5 prescribes inspection times by reference to the times prescribed under subsection 113(1) of the Designs Act 2003. That is a dynamic reference: if the Designs Act timetable is amended, the practical availability of the Olympic Register will change without amending these Regulations. Similarly, Regulation 6B uses the SES definition drawn from the Public Service Act 1999 as applied by the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. Changes to those external statutes (for example, a change to the SES classification) would affect the operation of reg 6B absent any change to the Regulations themselves.

• Fixed monetary fees. Regulation 3 prescribes the fee amounts: $400 and $450 for two distinct items. As monetary amounts, those fees will operate until amended by a later instrument. The Regulations themselves contain no inflation‑linking or periodic review mechanism; any change in the fee levels requires an amending regulation.

• No in‑text revision record. The provided text contains no marginal notes, amendment dates, or notations showing prior versions. There is no statement of commencement or transitional provisions presented in the supplied text. The Regulations therefore appear as a snapshot of their operative provisions without legislative history.

• Publication obligations and declarations. Regulation 6B(3) prescribes that a declaration under paragraph 14A(2)(b) is to be published in the Official Journal of Designs. How that journal is updated or managed may be subject to administrative changes that do not necessitate amendment to these Regulations.

Implications for users and administrators

• The dynamic references to other Acts mean that administrators must monitor those external statutes for changes that will affect operational compliance without the need to amend these Regulations. For example, a later amendment to subsection 113(1) of the Designs Act 2003 affecting opening times would change Reg 5’s effect.

• Fee changes require affirmative amendment. Because Reg 3 lists fixed dollar amounts, any policy change to fees requires a later amending regulation.

• Absence of procedural amendment record in the text supplied requires users to check the consolidated Commonwealth Register or legislative database for any subsequent amending instruments. The instrument as supplied does not itself report its amendment lineage.

In summary, the supplied Regulations do not include an internal amendment history. They contain several dynamic references that tie their effect to other statutes, and their fee provisions are fixed numbers that would only change by later regulatory amendment.

The Regulations themselves do not contain or cite any case law, judicial decisions, or tribunal determinations. The text supplied includes no references to litigation, no footnotes citing judicial interpretation, and no reported decisions tied to specific regulatory clauses. There are no notes of judicial consideration, no stated exemptions resulting from litigation, and no schedules of cases.

What the absence of litigation references implies for users and advisers

• No statutory interpretation guidance within the instrument. Because the Regulations do not reference any judicial decisions, there is no built‑in interpretative authority in the text. Users seeking authoritative interpretations of ambiguous terms or operational disputes will need to look to the Act, to judicial decisions applying the Act and its Regulations, and to administrative practice.

• Expect reliance on Act jurisprudence rather than Regulation‑specific cases. Any litigation testing the administrative matters in these Regulations,such as disputes about the Registrar’s power to correct entries, the adequacy of representations of protected designs in the register, the effect of the 4 year objection period, or the business‑day rule,would be resolved by reference to the Act and judicial application of the Act together with the Regulations. The Regulations themselves supply the procedural facts the court will apply, but any case law interpreting their meaning is external to the instrument.

• Practical consequence: limited litigation precedent means administrative clarification rests primarily with IP Australia practice, Official Journal notices and any decisions rendered by courts or tribunals in future proceedings. For contested points such as the scope of “obvious mistake” in Reg 6 or the sufficiency of a representation under Reg 7(e)(ii), litigants would need to establish these standards in proceedings because the Regulations do not elaborate them.

• No recorded challenges to fees in the Regulations. The fee levels in Reg 3 are specified numbers; the Regulations do not record any litigation which might have challenged their validity or application.

For practitioners, compliance officers and researchers, the absence of litigation history in the Regulations means reliance will be on: (1) the statutory text of the Olympic Insignia Protection Act and these Regulations; (2) any administrative guidance or practices published by IP Australia or the Official Journal of Designs; and (3) any separate court or tribunal decisions that subsequently interpret the Act or Regulations. The instrument as provided does not itself supply litigation precedents.

The Regulations are concise but contain several points that can catch practitioners and administrators unaware if they assume inapplicable general principles or miss the cross‑references. These are concrete traps or operational pitfalls grounded directly in the Regulatory text.

1. Fees are narrowly prescribed and limited to two items (Regulation 3). There is no general fee schedule in these Regulations. Expect the following exact charges: $400 for an application to register a design under paragraph 10(2)(b) of the Act and $450 for an application for an extension of protection under paragraph 11(2)(b). If an applicant assumes the design fee is the same as another IP fee or that multiple tiers exist, they will be surprised. If a different fee applies under the Act or another instrument, practitioners must reconcile which instrument governs.

2. Inspection times are not set in these Regulations; they are tied to the Designs Act 2003 (Regulation 5). That means inspection availability for the Register of Olympic Designs can change when the Designs Act timetable changes. Assuming static opening hours or relying on a locally known schedule without checking the Design Act or IP Australia’s current published times is risky.

3. The requirement to use an approved form for register corrections (Regulation 6(1) and Regulation 2 definition). A correction request not in the approved form may be rejected or not processed. Practitioners must identify the correct approved form referenced in subsection 14(1) of the Act. The Regulations do not reproduce the form; knowing where to obtain and how to complete it is essential.

4. Registrar’s sui generis correction power (Regulation 6(2)). The Registrar may amend the register on their own initiative to correct clerical errors or obvious mistakes. Practitioners should note that corrections may be made without a registrant’s application, which can alter the public record unilaterally. The Regulation does not specify notice or appeal rights for such corrections.

5. Business‑day rules and specific excluded days (Regulations 6A and 6B). The Designs Office is not open for business on Saturday, Sunday, Australia Day and Anzac Day (Reg 6B(1)). If a deadline falls on those days, subsection 14A(1) of the Act enables certain acts to be done on the next business day, but only where those acts are not excluded by Regulation 6C. Parties who rely on the general “next business day” rule must check whether the act relates to court or tribunal proceedings, since Regulation 6C expressly prescribes that acts in relation to proceedings in a court or tribunal are excluded.

6. Declaration and delegation mechanics (Regulation 6B(2)-(3)). The persons who can act for the Designs Office when it is not open are specifically listed and refer to SES employees acting with the agreement of named executives. A private party expecting that any employee can act during closures will be mistaken; the Regulations constrain which officials can exercise that authority and require publication of declarations in the Official Journal of Designs. Failure to check the Official Journal for such declarations may lead to miscalculated filing times.

7. Exclusion of judicial acts from the relief (Regulation 6C). If work is done in relation to court or tribunal proceedings, the subsection 14A(1) relief does not apply. Parties involved in litigation must therefore treat deadlines differently and not rely on the administrative business‑day extension for court filings.

8. Register particulars require representations for protected designs (Regulation 7(e)(ii)). For licences that relate to protected designs, the Register must include one or more representations sufficient to give a true indication of the design. That imposes a potential evidentiary or technical requirement: a poor or inadequate representation may not satisfy the register requirement. The Regulations do not specify format or resolution, leaving room for interpretation by the Registrar.

9. Four year limitation for importation objections (Regulation 9). A notice of objection to importation is effective for 4 years from receipt by the Comptroller‑General of Customs in accordance with section 52 of the Act. Parties should not assume a longer period of protection than four years. The triggering event is the receipt by the Comptroller‑General; administrative proof of that receipt will be necessary if dates are contested.

10. No penalties in the Regulations. Because the Regulations do not specify sanctions or enforcement mechanics, an erroneous assumption that non‑compliance will automatically attract a fine under these Regulations is mistaken. Enforcement mechanisms and penalties, if any, are located in the Act or other laws, not in these Regulations.

These “gotchas” are concrete operational risks: missed payments or incorrect forms will hinder processing; misunderstanding which days count as business days or which acts are excluded will produce timing errors; failing to provide acceptable representations of designs will impede registration of licence particulars. Practitioners should cross‑check the specific Act provisions referenced and the Official Journal of Designs for declarations and notices to avoid these pitfalls.

The Regulations are short and procedural. Compliance requires attention to specified forms, fees, timings, and registry content. The following practical checklist is grounded directly in the Regulations and identifies the steps, documents and internal controls that applicants, licence holders and administrators should adopt.

1. Confirm which Act provision applies before relying on fees. Regulation 3 prescribes two specific fees: $400 under paragraph 10(2)(b) for an application to register a design and $450 under paragraph 11(2)(b) for an application for an extension of protection. Before lodging, identify whether your application falls precisely under the Act paragraph cited. If it does, arrange payment of the prescribed fee. Keep evidence of payment: the Regulations link the fee to the application process and administrative offices may require proof.

2. Use the approved form for register correction requests. Regulation 6(1) requires that a request to amend the Register of Olympic Designs for correction of a clerical error or obvious mistake be made in the approved form as defined by subsection 14(1) of the Act (Regulation 2). To comply:

   • Obtain the approved form referenced in subsection 14(1) of the Act.
   • Complete the form fully and accurately, specifying the entry to be corrected and the nature of the clerical error or obvious mistake.
   • Lodge the form in accordance with IP Australia’s filing instructions and retain a copy and evidence of lodgement.

3. Anticipate the Registrar’s power to act unilaterally. Regulation 6(2) permits the Registrar to amend entries on the Registrar’s own initiative. Organisations should monitor entries in the Register of Olympic Designs and secure copies or alerts to any change. Where a registrant disagrees with a correction made by the Registrar, consult the Act for any review or appeal mechanism, because the Regulations do not set out an appeal process.

4. Manage timing against Designs Office business days. Regulations 6A and 6B set the Designs Office non‑business days as Saturdays, Sundays, Australia Day and Anzac Day. Where a statutory period under the relevant Chapter ends on a day when the Designs Office is not open, subsection 14A(1) of the Act allows the act to be done on the next open business day, except where the act is in relation to a court or tribunal proceeding (Regulation 6C). To comply:

   • Maintain a calendar that flags the specified non‑business days.
   • For time‑sensitive filings, plan to file before the last open business day or on the next open business day where subsection 14A(1) applies.
   • Do not rely on the “next business day” relief for filings in court or tribunal proceedings per Regulation 6C.

5. Check the Official Journal of Designs for declarations and published notices. Regulation 6B(3) prescribes publication of declarations in the Official Journal of Designs. Practically this means:

   • Before relying on a declaration that the Designs Office remains functionally open, search the Official Journal of Designs.
   • Keep records of any relevant Official Journal entries that purport to authorise SES employees to act or that affect filing times.

6. Prepare licence particulars to meet Registry requirements. Regulations 7 and 8 specify the exact particulars that must be included in the respective registers. Ensure submissions include:

   • For licences relating to copyright in the Olympic symbol or protected designs (Regulation 7): the licence holder’s name and address; the period of the licence; a description of the articles to which a protected design may be applied; a statement where the licence relates to copyright in the Olympic symbol; and, for protected designs, one or more representations sufficient to give a true indication of the design.
   • For licences to use protected Olympic expressions (Regulation 8): the licensed user’s name and address; the period for which the licence is granted; the protected Olympic expressions that may be used; and a description of the goods and services to which the expression may be applied.
   • Ensure the representations for protected designs are clear and accurate. The Regulations require representations sufficient to give a true indication of the design, but they do not specify format. Provide high‑quality, unambiguous representations to minimise the risk of rejection or subsequent disputation.

7. File notices of objection to importation with Customs and track the 4 year period. Regulation 9 prescribes a 4 year period of effect for a notice of objection to importation beginning when the notice is given to the Comptroller‑General of Customs in accordance with section 52 of the Act. Comply by:

   • Serving the notice to the Comptroller‑General of Customs in the manner required by section 52 of the Act; retain proof of receipt.
   • Mark the 4 year expiry from the date when Customs received the notice and consider renewal strategies well in advance of expiry if continued coverage is required.

8. Retain evidence of all lodgements and payments. Because the Regulations are procedural, administrative evidence is critical. Keep copies of:

   • Approved forms lodged.
   • Receipts for fees paid in accordance with Regulation 3.
   • Representations of designs supplied to the register.
   • Notices filed with the Comptroller‑General of Customs and proof of receipt.
   • Any Official Journal of Designs notices relevant to declarations under Regulation 6B.

9. Monitor external instruments referenced by the Regulations. Because Regulation 5 and Regulation 6B rely on other statutes and official publications, compliance requires checking:

   • The Designs Act 2003 for current inspection times for the Register of Designs.
   • The Official Journal of Designs for declarations and publications.
   • Relevant IP Australia administrative guidance that implements these Regulations in practice.

10. Seek administrative clarification when the Regulations are silent. Where the Regulations state requirements but not the format or procedures,most notably for the acceptable form of a representation of a protected design or for the approved form referenced in Reg 6,seek clarification from the Registrar or IP Australia guidance to avoid avoidable rejections or delays.

Following these concrete steps will align practice with the text and administrative mechanics of the Regulations. The Regulations set out specific documentary and timing requirements; compliance is a matter of supplying the prescribed fee or particulars, using the prescribed forms, and observing the business‑day and publication rules set out in the instrument.