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Designs and models law: possibilities for registration
To optimally protect the design of your product, it is advisable to register it. Registration is possible for the country or countries where you (eventually) want to bring your product to market. Designs and models law is an important mechanism in this respect.
The benefits of registration
Designs and models law protects the appearance of a product or a part thereof. Important conditions apply before you can qualify for protection, including the need for novelty and individual character. If you have registered the specification of your product as a design, you can prevent others from, for example, manufacturing, offering or marketing the same or a very similar design. The EU’s Industrial Designs and Models Law also includes protection for unregistered designs. However, this only covers the right to prevent deliberate imitations.
In practice, the required intent (derivation) is often difficult to prove. The protection of an unregistered design is therefore more difficult to maintain than the protection of a registered design. Besides the difference in scope, registration is also recommended due to the duration of protection. A registered EU design is protected for 25 years compared to three years for an unregistered design.
It is also wise to proceed with registration before you begin to exploit the product or launch it on the market. In many countries, a design can only be registered if it has never been made available to the public anywhere in the world. You should therefore make sure that the release of your design is properly coordinated with the legal steps required to protect it.
Options for registration
The application to register a design will have to be submitted in the country or countries where you seek protection. In practice, there are several possibilities.
National registration:
Each country has its own designs and models law, so applications must be submitted per country in line with national regulations. This also means that the period of protection may vary from country to country. After registration, you obtain the exclusive right for that specific country.
European registration:
By means of one application to the European trademarks and designs agency in Spain you can obtain rights for all 27 EU countries. The so-called ‘community design’ is subject to separate legislation that is the same for all EU countries. A registered community design provides protection for a maximum of 25 years.
International registration:
If you have international ambitions or regard the world as your playing field, you can opt for the international design right. This is based on The Hague Convention, which has been signed by more than 50 countries. By means of a single application to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Switzerland, you can obtain protection in the member countries. Since you obtain a bundle of national rights as it were, the national legislation of the designated countries applies. The protection period may vary therefore.
Would you like to know more about designs and models law?
Designs and models law enables you to act against infringement. Infringement occurs when the design of a third party is indistinguishable from your design in the eyes of the public. If you have any questions about the registration of your design or believe that it is being infringed, please contact Novagraaf. We will be happy to put you on the right track and show you some practical examples. You can contact us using the contact form at the top right of this page.
