Industrial Designs FAQ

Industrial Designs FAQ

Everything you really need to know about iGERENT's Services

This point is crucial when thinking about the strategy for your industrial designs. Considering that novelty and unique character are compulsory requirements in the majority of the offices in the world, it is highly recommended that the application of the design is submitted prior to its disclosure, otherwise, it may be considered as already part of public domain and the registration would therefore be denied.

If the industrial design has already been disclosed to the public (for example, through an advertisement published on the company's website), it may no longer be considered “new” or “original” and may become part of the public domain. However, some countries contemplate a “grace period” during which it is still possible to file the application after the disclosure of the industrial design. This period constitutes a safeguard for applicants who have disclosed their industrial design before submitting an application and usually last between 6 to 12 months.

Yes. In terms of industrial designs, priority works in the same way as it does in trademarks.
The filing of the first application for IP rights in a country that is a member of the Paris Convention concedes the applicant a Priority Right. In practice, the right of priority gives a period of time during which, if a second identical application is filed in a member country of the Convention, the filing date of the second application would be the same as the filing date of the first one.

Filing a design with priority (in the countries where it applies) grants a period in which the applicant can extend the protection of their design to other countries of interest while still being able to avoid objections based on lack of novelty of the design.

Priority can only be claimed in the member countries of the Paris Convention. The information included in the subsequent applications must be identical to the first application through which priority is to be claimed. This means that the design, owner, and author (if they are not the same) must match and that changes are not allowed.