IPA design informed-user — IP Australia Designs Examiners' Manual – 14.7. Section 19 requirements for distinctiveness: Familiar person / Informed user

Section 19 (4) requires us to apply the ‘familiar person’ standard or ‘standard of the informed user’ in assessing all the factors of distinctiveness, depending on when the application for the registered design was lodged. The familiar person / informed user concept applies to both assessing the registrability of a design (s 16 (2)) and infringement (s 71 (3)). It describes the standard of familiarity that needs to be taken into account when comparing the visual features and overall appearance of different designs, as part of assessing substantial similarity in overall impression. See the separate topic Standard of the familiar person / informed user ​​​​​​​ .