Registration of a patent for an industrial design is carried out in several stages.
At the first stage, it is necessary to fill out the application correctly. To do this, fill out the official application form of the country in which you are to obtain a patent for an industrial design, indicating the name and surname of the copyright holder, his contact information, as well as drawings, drawings and photographs of the industrial design.
In some cases, a written description and statement of its "novelty" is required. In the description, it is important to indicate the differences from previously known similar samples and their most important distinctive characteristics. In some countries, you are asked to provide the industrial design itself as an example.
At the next stage, it is necessary to pay the fee established by the state patent office. If necessary, you can resort to the help of a patent attorney, having previously issued a power of attorney for him.
After a positive decision is made, the industrial design is included in the register of industrial designs and published in the official gazette, after which a patent is issued. The term of protection of an industrial design in Russia is 5 years from the date of filing the application, with the possibility of extension for 5 years, but not more than 25 years.
In order to not disclose the appearance of an industrial design for a certain period of time, in some countries or departments it is possible to request a delay in the publication of information about it, which is important when drawing up a company's business development strategy.
The specifics of obtaining exclusive rights to an industrial design by various national departments should be taken into account. For example, some of them register industrial designs only after conducting a formal examination to ensure that all required formal requirements are met. Other departments conduct a substantive examination to establish the fact of its novelty and originality. The time frame for obtaining a patent for an industrial design depends on the legislation of the national office.
Some countries allow a “grace period” for registering an industrial design, which can be six months or a year from the date of disclosure of information about it (sale of products using the industrial design, demonstration of it at exhibitions, etc.). Moreover, during this period the industrial design does not lose its “novelty”, which means that an application for its registration can be submitted.
Since there is no exclusive right to the industrial design during the "grace period", it may receive protection under copyright or unfair competition.
The costs of legal protection of an industrial design include:
- fees for obtaining a patent, the amount of which depends on the prices established by the legislation of the countries where the application and its renewal are filed;
- costs associated with the services of a patent attorney;
- in case of obtaining protection abroad, there may be expenses for translating documents into a foreign language.
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