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III. Registration Art. 14 (1) Applications for deposit shall be accepted if they meet the requirements of items 1 to 3 in Article 1. (2) The Institute shall refuse applications which fail to satisfy one or other of the requirements of Articles 2 to 7 or which include articles or graphic representations that are not in the nature of a design within the meaning of the law or which are contrary to the provisions of a federal law or an international convention or which are contrary to morality. Those applications that, by the very nature of the subject matter of the deposit, cannot be regularized, shall be immediately refused; those whose regularization is possible shall not be rejected unless there has been no response, of an adequate nature and within the prescribed time limit, to a notification in which the Institute shall point out the defects in the application. The time limit for regularizing defective applications may not extend into the fourth month following the filing date of the application. (3) These same provisions shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the conversion of a secret deposit to an open deposit, particularly where a secret deposit made before August 1, 1956, contains designs for printing on cotton or for silk or semi-silk fabrics (except for Jacquard fabrics). In such cases, no material change may be made to the articles deposited; likewise, the exchange of such articles shall not be permitted. (4) Requests for prolongation of protection shall be submitted, in accordance with the requirements of Article 8, during a period of three months as from expiry of the preceding term of protection. The time limits for regularizing defects that have been notified as a result of the prescribed opening of an envelope, shall not extend into the fourth month or, in the event of restoration (Article 11 of the Law), into the seventh month of the new term of protection. (5) The time limit for regularization of defects relating to envelopes that have been unsealed following a request under Article 10 shall be one month. (6) If an application for deposit is refused, the fee for the first term shall not refunded. (7) If an application for deposit or a deposit or a request for prolongation of protection is rejected for failure to comply with a regularization time limit laid down by the Implementing Regulations alone or by the Institute, the refusal shall be withdrawn subject to the following conditions: within a period of one month as from refusal: (a) those acts that should have been effected within the time limit that was not complied with shall be carried out; (b) and a restoration fee shall be paid to the Institute. Art. 15 (1) The day on which the application for deposit is admitted shall be deemed the filing date. Where the return of the designs has been ordered, the filing date shall be postponed to the day of receipt of the returned consignment. (2) The statements relating to the rights of a successor in title which reach the Institute after registration of the deposit shall be subject to payment of a fee invoiced by the Institute. They shall be annexed to the file of the deposit to which they relate (Article 18), bearing a note of the date of deposit. Such circumstance shall also be noted in the Register. Art. 16 The entries and publications with respect to each deposit shall be made in the language in which the application is drawn up: Art. 17 (1) The Institute shall keep a Register containing the following particulars: 1. the serial number of the deposit; 2. the date of the deposit; 3. the amount and date of payment of fees for the various terms of protection; 4. the date of issue of the deposit certificate; 5. where appropriate, the date of initial deposit abroad or the date of admission of the related products to a national or international exhibition in Switzerland; 6. the date of publication; 7. the name and address of the depositor; 8. the name and address of any representative; 9. the deposited article (pattern or model); 10. the products to which the designs relate; 11. the nature of the deposit (open or secret); where appropriate, the date of opening; 12. prolongations of protection; 13. changes communicated under Article 13; 14. final decisions on lapse or nullity of the deposit (at the request of the successful party); 15. cancellation. (2) Registration of the numbers of deposited designs or of those for which protection has been renounced (Article 9) or of which protection has been prolonged, shall be optional; where registration is not carried out, the particulars of the type annexed to the deposit file (Article 18) shall nevertheless be deemed to constitute an integral part of the entries in the Register. (3) An alphabetical list of depositors (showing the numbers of their deposits) shall be continuously updated. Art. 18 A special file bearing the serial number of the deposit shall be constituted for each deposit. Art. 19 (1) After registration of a deposit, the Institute shall certify, on both copies of the application, the date of deposit and shall affix to each copy its signature and stamp. (2) One of such copies shall be transmitted to the depositor or his representative as a deposit certificate; the second copy shall be annexed to the deposit file. (3) If protection is prolonged, an extract from the Register, for the purpose of certifying such prolongation, shall be issued free of charge to the owners of deposits. Art. 20 (1) The Institute shall publish the list of deposits effected twice each month. The publication shall contain the following information: (a) the international classes; (b) the deposit number; (c) the date of deposit; (d) the type of deposit (open or sealed); (e) the number of designs deposited; (f) a statement whether the deposit is constituted of patterns or of models; (g) designation of the articles to which the designs relate; (h) the name and address of the depositor; (i) where appropriate, the name and address of the creator; (k) where appropriate, the name and address of the representative; (l) where appropriate, the priority date and country of first deposit; (m) where appropriate, any immunity. (2) In addition, a graphic publication similar to that for trademarks shall be effected for designs in respect of watches and which do not exclusively concern the decoration of the deposited articles. (3) Prolongations of protection, the opening of packages requested under Article 10 and changes in ownership or enjoyment of rights of the depositor (Article 13) shall also be published. Cancellations of deposits due to failure to pay in good time the due prolongation fee shall be published only when the time limit for restoral has expired without compliance (Article 11(2) of the Law). (4) At the beginning of each year, the Institute shall publish an alphabetical catalogue of owners of designs, stating the numbers of deposits made in the course of the preceding year. Art. 20bis (1) A fee shall be payable for each term of protection and for each design or for each package of designs that is deposited. (2) The fees for the first term shall be paid at the latest at the time of the deposit (Article 15(2), item 2, of the Law); the fees for the second and third terms shall become due on the first day of each such period. Art. 21 (1) Where no request for prolongation of protection has been submitted on expiry of the first or of the second term of protection, the Institute shall advise the owner of the deposit, or his representative, that his rights will lapse if the prolongation fee is not paid within the three months that follow the date of expiry. (2) If the Institute should omit to send a reminder or if such reminder should not reach the owner, for any reason whatsoever, in good time, the deposit shall nevertheless be declared to have lapsed on the grounds of failure to pay the appropriate fee during the time limit referred to above. (3) If the prolongation fee remains unpaid, the Institute shall register the lapse of the deposit and shall advise the owner thereof. Art. 21bis (1) In addition to the due fee for prolongation, a restoration fee shall be paid to the Institute for the restoration of a deposit that has lapsed due to failure to pay the due fee for prolongation of protection in good time. (2) The time limit for restoration shall be deemed to have been complied with only if, prior to its expiry, the prolongation fee and the restoration fee have been paid in full to the Institute. Art. 22 (1) The envelopes of secret deposits that have been provisionally opened at the request of their owners or on a court decision shall, after that operation, be sealed once more by the Institute. Such deposits shall be considered, with regard to third parties, as secret during the time they remain open. Secret deposits shall not be opened ex officio after lapse. (2) Sealed envelopes, for which protection is renewed for all or a part of their contents, shall be opened only after payment of the fee due for the subsequent term and, where necessary, of the restoration fee; even in such cases, envelopes containing embroidery designs shall not be unsealed. Where protection of a part only of a deposit in a sealed envelope is to be prolonged, the other part shall be deemed to remain under sealed envelope. (3) If irregularities appear when a sealed envelope is opened, in respect of designs for which prolongation of protection is requested or for some of them, the procedure shall be as set out in Article 14. Art. 23 (1) The owner of a deposit may at any time renounce protection (Article 9). (2) The owner of a deposit of which the term of protection has expired may, at any time, withdraw the designs from that deposit. If he does not withdraw them, the Institute shall hold them for three years as from expiry of protection; following which, the Institute shall return them to the owner of the deposit or to his representative. In special cases, the Institute may dispose otherwise of such deposits, with the consent of the department to which it is answerable. Art. 24 (1) Any person may obtain from the Institute, on payment of the fees, oral or written information on the contents of the Designs Register and of the deposit files; open deposits of designs may likewise be inspected. (2) On request, the Institute shall issue a priority document if the fee invoiced to that end has been paid. Art. 25 Those authorities who, in the exercise of their judicial functions, require the communication of documents or deposits shall be required, in the request addressed to the Institute to that end, to state the capacity in which they are acting and to assume responsibility for regular return to the Institute of the documents and deposits furnished.

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