Proprietorship
Only the proprietor of a design can get registration in his name. The proprietor means: the author or person who creates the design; or if the author creates the design for someone else, that other person; or where the ownership of the design has passed to the person claiming registration.
The position of a person who creates a design in the course of employment is different. The default position is that an employee who creates the work is entitled to claim proprietorship — she is the author. This is the case even if the author is employed specifically as, say, an industrial designer.
However, if the author (A) creates the design in the course of her employment by another person (B), and (B) has an agreement that the design will be created for someone else (C), that person (C) is entitled to be the proprietor.
Read section 1 of the Designs Act.
Because of the ordinary default position, if an employer wants to be entitled to claim proprietorship, this must be regulated by a contract with the employee.
Sometimes, more than one designer will work on a project, creating more than one author — we talk about co-authors or joint authors. Then there will be joint proprietors.
As with many issues relating to IP, it is advisable to get specialist advice if there is any doubt about the correct proprietorship of a design. Although design registrations can be dealt with by any attorney, they are mostly done by qualified patent attorneys. See www.saiipl.co.za for contact details of a patent attorney in your area.