Designs

The filing of a design (design or model) allows, once the registration has been obtained, to take advantage with exclusive rights of the particular aesthetic aspect of a product. The title can be renewed every 5 years up to a maximum duration of 25 years.

Depending on the needs it is possible to deposit different types of designs:

• an Italian design, at the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (UIBM);
• a European design, at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ;;
• an international design, at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); or
• a foreign national design.

The essential requirement for the validity of a design is novelty.

Multiple designs can be included in the repository, presenting different views for each in order to give a complete representation.

Views can be photos or even simple drawings.

It is important to remember that the design only protects what is present in the deposited views .

Durante l'esame vengono verificati i requisiti formali che le domande di design devono rispettare come per esempio la coerenza tra le diverse viste o la rappresentazione non è chiara.

Gli uffici competenti non svolgono ricerche di novità durante la fase di esame e dunque se i requisiti formali sono rispettati il design procederà a registrazione.

Once granted, the design will be readily spendable towards any counterfeiters guaranteeing a strong asset to its owner.