File a Design
A design is the appearance of the whole or a part of the product as resulting, in particular, from the characteristics of the lines, contours, colours, shape, surface structure and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation.
Product is any industrial or handicraft object, including, inter alia, components which must be assembled to form a complex product, packaging, presentations, graphic symbols and typefaces, excluding computer programs. A complex product is a product consisting of several components which can be replaced, allowing for disassembly and re-assembly of the product.
The filing procedure
In many countries, design registration takes place after an examination phase carried out by the relevant national intellectual property office. It is only after the successful conclusion of any opposition proceedings that design owners obtain design registration. Before applying for a design registration it is appropriate to perform a prior art search: to check that it is not identical or similar to previously registered trademarks; identify the classes of goods/services for which the design is to be registered, using the Locarno International Design Classification System. It is essential that the design is registered in all classes in which it is intended to be used.
File an Italian design
Our firm is licensed to represent applicants beofre the Italian PTO for filing a design.
The application for a design can be submitted by anyone: natural person, legal person, associations, bodies, etc., including minors, even foreigners provided they are domiciled in one of the EU countries.
The applicant must file the following documents for a design application:
drawings or photographs of the design and any description name and personal and tax data of the applicant;
Power of attorney to represent the applicant before the Italian PTO.
Registered designs are now protected for 5 years from the filing date and the protection can be extended in time, up to 25 years from the filing date, provided that the renewal or maintenance fees are paid on time and that, during this period, no request for invalidity or revocation is granted.
File an European design
The Community design allows a registration valid throughout the territory of the European Union.
A design registration is valid throughout the entire territory of the European Union with a single application. Entitled to the registration of a European design are natural persons having citizenship or domicile in a Member State, legal persons having their seat or permanent establishment in a Member State and also natural or legal persons having citizenship, domicile, seat or permanent establishment in one of the States party to the Paris Convention or the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (GATT).
There is no provision for a substantive examination of the application for registration in order to verify whether it meets the requirements of novelty and individual character. However, any right holder may submit a reasoned application for cancellation of the registered design to the Office. There is no opposition procedure.
With a single application for a multiple design it is possible to apply for protection of several models or designs falling within the same product class of the Locarno International Classification on Designs. The term of the registration is 5 years from the date of the application for registration of the design product, renewable up to a maximum of 25 years.
Filing an international design
The term "international design" refers to a system of filing through a single application in several foreign states through the Hague Agreement.
The application for protection of an international design can be filed at the headquarters of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) in Geneva (Switzerland). Our firm handles both design filings for countries that are parties to the Hague Agreement and in non-acceding countries through the support of corresponding studies with which we have more than ten years' experience.
