Community design (or also known as a European Union design or European industrial design) is the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colors, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation.
Registering a European Union design at the European Union Intellectual Property Office, based in Alicante, Spain, is the best and easiest way of protection of industrial design on the territory of all EU Member States.
Advantages of registration of a Community design:
- A Community design shall have a unitary character. It shall have equal effect throughout the Community.
- Upon further expansion of the European Union, the Community design automatically extends its territorial protection.
- The registration procedure is simple: only one application for registration shall be submitted; the registration procedure is in one language; the correspondence is only with one administrative body; only one industrial property representative can be used; fees are paid in one currency; only one registration is maintained.
- Lower costs: the system of the Community design is the most economically advantageous compared to the total cost of separate national registrations in all or several countries.
- Examination and registration of the design are conducted only a few days after a properly completed application.
- The date of filing of the Community design is recognized as a priority date for filing of subsequent requests in the national and international order.
- Filing of a multiple application is allowed.
- The proprietor of a Community design right shall have the right to use the design not only within the territory in one Member State of the European Union but also throughout the Community.
- The Community design constitutes an earlier right in respect of subsequent industrial designs in all Member States.
Unregistered Community design
A design that satisfies the requirements of Title 1 of Regulation (EC) 6/2002 shall benefit from the protection of an unregistered Community design for a period of three years from the date on which the design first became available in the Community. An industrial design shall be considered to be publicly available within the Community, if it has been published, displayed, used in commerce or made public in such a way that, in the normal course of business, such events can reasonably be made known to the circles specialized in the sector concerned within the Community. The design shall not, however, be deemed to have been made available to the public for the sole reason that it has been disclosed to a third person under explicit or implicit conditions of confidentiality.
Who can apply for a Community design registration and how?
Any natural or legal person may apply for registration of a Community design. Applicants who do not have a permanent residence in a Member State of the European Union are obliged to use the services of an industrial property representative.
The application for registration of a Community design can be submitted directly at the European Union Intellectual Property Office or electronically.
Languages
The application for registration of a Community design may be filed in one of the languages of the member states of the European Union, but аpplicants are also obliged to indicate a second language which shall be chosen among the five working languages of the European Union Intellectual Property Office, namely: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. Languages cannot be changed after filing of the application.
Period of validity of the Community design
The period of validity of the registration is five /5/ years from the filing date of the application for registration at the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Registration may be renewed for one or more periods of five years each, up to a total term of 25 years from the date of filing.
Scope of protection
The scope of the protection conferred by a Community design shall include any design which does not produce on the informed user a different overall impression. In assessing the scope of protection, the degree of freedom of the designer in developing his design shall be taken into consideration.
Rights conferred by the Community design
A registered Community design shall confer on its holder the exclusive right to use it and to prevent any third party not having his consent from using it. The aforementioned use shall cover, in particular, the making, offering, putting on the market, importing, exporting or using of a product in which the design is incorporated or to which it is applied, or stocking such a product for those purposes.
An unregistered Community design shall, however, confer on its holder the right to prevent the acts referred to in the previous paragraph only if the contested use results from copying the protected design. The contested use shall not be deemed to result from copying the protected design if it results from an independent work of creation by a designer who may be reasonably thought not to be familiar with the design made available to the public by the holder.
During the registration procedure of a Community design, it is advisable to seek assistance from a specialist with experience in this field, as a thorough knowledge of the relevant legislation is required and a number of features need to be taken into account.
The team of the law firm of Krassimira Kadieva will gladly assist you in registering a European Union design by providing professional advice and preparing all the necessary documents, as Krasimira Kadieva is a European Trade Mark and Design Attorney at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Krasimira Kadieva is an author of numerous articles in the field of intellectual property law and constantly follows the changes in legislation in this area as well as regularly attends conferences, practical courses, seminars, forums, and webinars for improving her professional qualifications.
If you would like to assign us the registration of your Community design, please contact us at 00359 882 308 670 or make an inquiry using the contact form of this website.
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Legal Disclaimer: This material prepared by Krasimira Kadieva aims to give information about Community designs. It does not constitute a legal opinion and cannot be interpreted as individual consultation on any concrete facts or circumstances. The advice of an intellectual property specialist should be obtained for specific questions and situations. For more information on the above-mentioned issues and individual consultations, please contact Krasimira Kadieva at 00359 882 308 670 or make an inquiry using the contact form of this website. Krasimira Kadieva is a Bulgarian and European trademark and design attorney. She offers comprehensive analysis and strategy for the effective protection of industrial designs as objects of industrial property, both at the time of registration and in violation of the rights thereto. The IP attorney in Bulgaria Krasimira Kadieva assists in all types of industrial design registrations by providing professional advice and preparation of all necessary documents.