Filing design convention documents

The Design Regulations 34(2) and 34(3) require an applicant to lodge certified convention documents and verified translations of the foreign language parts of convention documents at IPONZ at the time an application is made or within three months of the application date. IPONZ is not in a position to view or download these documents from overseas offices and the onus is on the applicant to lodge the documents.

Online convention applications

A convention application should be filed online and an electronic copy of the convention document, as a single electronic file in the pdf format, may be attached to and uploaded with the online filing form to satisfy the requirement under regulation 34(2). A document for each convention priority requested may be uploaded along with a translation document if required.

Filing of convention documents at a later time

Certified convention documents and verified translations which support the claim to convention priority may be filed within three months after an application has been made.

These documents should be filed online. If an examination report has been issued for the design application and the applicant is ready to respond to all objections, the applicant can file their convention documents as part of their response to this examination report. This must be done within the three-month deadline, along with responses to all objections.

The applicant can also email these documents to mail@iponz.govt.nz if the three-month deadline is approaching and either:

• An examination report has been issued for the design application, but the applicant is not ready to respond to all objections.
• No examination report has yet been issued.

Certification and verification

The electronic copy of the convention document may be a document digitally signed by the issuing authority or may be a facsimile copy of a document including a verification certificate provided by the issuing authority. The facsimile copy might be an electronic file or derived from a paper document, in either case originating from the issuing authority. If the uploaded convention document is not digitally signed by the issuing authority or does not include a (facsimile) verification certificate, then the Commissioner may request that the applicant lodge a suitably verified document.

Original verification certificates of English translations do not need to be supplied to IPONZ; a scanned electronic copy of the verification certificate uploaded with the translated document will satisfy regulation 34(3). 

Confirmation of Filing (General)

If a document has been uploaded online against a Design, then the onscreen confirmation of the submission of the page verifies that the document has been filed with IPONZ. Once applications and documents have been filed, applicants (the registered user) can view the application and/or documentation that has been received by IPONZ.

Last updated 6 November 2025