The provisions relating to the division of applications and registrations are an important feature in modern intellectual property treaties, particularly in the context of industrial designs, layout designs of integrated circuits, and utility models. These provisions are intended to provide flexibility to applicants and right holders when an application or registration contains more than one design, invention, or subject matter that may not comply with the requirement of unity. The concept of division allows an applicant to split a single application or registration into two or more separate applications or registrations, each preserving the filing date and, where applicable, the priority date of the original filing. In the field of industrial designs, treaties such as the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs and the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (by analogy in procedural simplification), as well as national laws harmonized through international standards, recognize that a single application may include multiple designs, provided they belong to the same class or share a common design concept. However, when the competent authority finds that the application does not comply with the unity or similarity requirements, the applicant is typically required or allowed to divide the application into multiple applications. Each divisional application then proceeds independently while retaining the original filing date, which is crucial for determining novelty and priority. The division of an industrial design application is particularly significant where an applicant seeks protection for variations of a product design that may not be sufficiently similar to be included in a single application. In such cases, the applicant may voluntarily divide the application to ensure compliance with legal requirements or may be required to do so following an objection raised by the examining office. The divisional applications must not introduce new matter beyond what was disclosed in the original application. This ensures that the integrity of the disclosure is maintained and prevents applicants from extending protection to subject matter that was not originally contemplated. In relation to layout designs (topographies) of integrated circuits, the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits (IPIC Treaty) and related national legislations provide for the protection of original layout designs that are the result of intellectual effort and are not commonplace among creators. Although the IPIC Treaty does not elaborate extensively on procedural aspects such as division, many national laws influenced by international norms incorporate provisions for dividing applications where multiple layout designs are included in a single filing. This is particularly relevant in cases where a submission inadvertently includes distinct topographies that do not form a single inventive concept or where separate commercialization strategies are intended for different circuit layouts. The division mechanism in the context of layout designs ensures that each topography can be examined and registered on its own merits. Similar to industrial designs, the divisional