A design represents the appearance of a product or part thereof, rendered in two or three dimensions, resulting from the combination of the main features, in particular lines, contours, colors, shape, texture and / or materials of the product itself and / or ornamentation.
The registered Community design is an exclusive right granted to the holder and is an essential element in combating counterfeiting. After registration, the holder of the protection takes advantage of an initial period of 5 years from the filing date of the registration application, with the possibility of extension for a period of 5 years, up to a maximum period of 25 years.
In order to register a Community design, it must be new and have an individual character..
A design is considered new if no identical design has been made public before:
– in the case of an unregistered Community design, before the date the design protection is sought for was first made public
The designs are considered to be identical if their characteristics stand apart but by minute details.
A design is considered to have individual character if the overall impression it produces on the notified user is different from the impression produced on the same user by any other design that has been made public.
The cumulative meeting of these two requirements, of novelty and individual character, is the basis for the registration or rejection of the application for a Community design.
The author (or the subsequent holder of a design) may request protection within one year of the disclosure of the design for the first time, in the event that the actual sale disclosure would impede obtaining the records. This is a relatively short period in which competitors may not copy a design in accordance with the rights conferred by an unregistered Community design. This provision is especially used for small businesses that do not want to invest funds in registering designs before knowing that they will be commercially successful.
Registered designs confer the rights holder:
– the registered design belongs to the author or his successor in title; if several persons have made a design together, the right to the Community design is shared by them all
– confers an exclusive right to use the design on the market, sue the third parties counterfeiting it, and claim compensation and damages
– is a means of limiting the counterfeiting
– the title deed is obtained quickly and with formalized needs
– registered designs are valid throughout the European Union
– prohibits the unauthorized production of the design in all European Union countries, and stops imports of counterfeit products at all points of entry into the European Union
The registration of designs at Community level has the following advantages::
A. The application of a single legal system for Community designs, providing uniform and strong protection throughout the European Union
B. Simplification of formalities
– a single application
– a single language of the deposit
– a single administrative center
– a single file to be administered
– the possibility to submit the application electronically
C. Simplicity of procedures, applications can be submitted to both national industrial property offices and EUIPO.
D. Community exploitation of the rights conferred, a Community design may be transferred to other persons, or licensed to other parties
E. The exclusive right to use and to prohibit third parties from using without the consent of the holder of a registered Community design
F. The right to take any legal action against those infringing the design, including claiming compensation, as a means of combating potential counterfeiting
G. Extended legal protection, accessible to all. Actions relating to a design may be brought before the Community Design Courts, which are national courts appointed by the Member States of the European Union having jurisdiction over Community designs. The decisions made by these courts are applicable throughout the European Union, in order to open individual actions in each Member State
H. Possibility to submit a multiple deposit, a single application including an unlimited number of designs, if they are part of the same range of similar products (except for applications submitted electronically, in which case the number is limited to 99)
Source: Drawings and community models - OSIM Publishing House