What can be protected
A creation in the shape, configuration or composition of lines or colours, or both, in two or three dimensions, that gives an aesthetic impression and can be used to make a product, an industrial commodity or a handicraft. The design must be new.
What we handle
Filing and handling of industrial design applications as your representative before DJKI.
How an application proceeds
- Preparation: images or physical samples and a description of the design, with a statement of ownership.
- Filing with DJKI.
- Administrative examination. If items are missing, DJKI gives three months to supply them, extendable by one month.
- Public announcement within three months of the filing date. Anyone may file a written objection within three months of the announcement starting.
- Substantive examination takes place where an objection is filed. DJKI’s published service standard also lists a substantive stage, and DJKI is streamlining the process, so the exact steps are confirmed at filing.
- Certificate. If there is no objection, DJKI issues it within thirty days after the objection period ends. The certificate takes effect from the filing date.
Good to know
- A design right lasts ten years from the filing date and cannot be renewed.
- Protection depends on registration and on being first to file, unlike copyright, which arises automatically. A design should therefore be filed before it is released.
- Showing a design at an official or officially recognised exhibition does not count as disclosure if the application follows within six months.
- The design law is under reform in the legislature, so the rules in force at the time of filing apply.