Design

A registered design will give the proprietor a monopoly in the appearance of his design as applied to a particular article. A design must, of course, be new to be registrable, but disclosure of the design outside the Czech Republic does not constitute a bar.

A registered design subsists initially for 5 years from application, and this term can be extended to a total of 25 years. Renewal reminders can be sent directly from our office.

Scope of protection

The scope of the protection shall be given by the representation of the industrial design as it is registered except features being predestined by the technical function of the design, or which must necessarily be reproduced in exact form and dimensions, in order to permit the product, in which the industrial design is incorporated or to which it is applied to be mechanically connected to or placed in, round or against another product, so that either product may perform its function.

Like patents, registered design protection is essentially territorial and it is necessary to obtain a registration in each country of interest.

An international convention allows the applicant to file in convention countries within 6 months of his initial application date.

Our firm is able to offer advice on the various options which are frequently available for the prosecution of design protection. We file the Czech Republic priority design applications, co-ordinate foreign filings worldwide and advise on the enforcement of those rights.

International design registration

The filing of a national industrial design application generates a priority date, which can be claimed to support corresponding design applications filed abroad within six months of the national filing date. It is also possible for the national design application to claim priority from a foreign filing.

Community design registration

The Community design regulation provides for a single community design registration, without any separate formalities in each State, which will be enforceable in all of the countries of the European Union. It also provides for short term (3 years) unregistered design protection.

From April 1, 2003 a Registered Community Design provides, through a simple, single, low cost registration, the opportunity to acquire a monopoly for your designs for up to 25 years in all member states of the EU.

We can deal with all aspects of filing an application and obtaining a registration of a design on your behalf. To enable us to prepare documents for filing an application, we need drawings or photographs showing all features of the design. Alternatively, if a specimen or model is available, we can prepare drawings or photographs from it.

In the context of intellectual property, the design of an article is generally its shape or ornamentation applied to it. Essentially, the design of a product relates to its appearance, rather than to technical principles of its construction or operation.