An industrial design protects the appearance of an industrial and household product.
Industrial designs protect many types of products, such as packaging, containers, furniture and household items, office supplies, medical equipment, cutlery, computer equipment and much more. Also, industrial designs can be used for graphic symbols, graphical user interfaces and logos.
An industrial design patent is valid within the country where it was issued.
To carry out an international registration of an industrial design (design), the following options are possible:
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Filing a national application in a specific country. In this case, it is possible to obtain a national patent in each of the countries. The application will be reviewed according to the national laws of each selected country.
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Filing an international application under the Hague System. In this case, one international application is submitted to all countries of interest to you, which, of course, must be members of the Hague System. Such an application is filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Examination of such an application on its merits is carried out in those member countries in which it is provided by law.
Submission of an application to EU countries. The application is filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office located in Spain. One application is submitted to all the member states of the European Union and the United Kingdom of interest.
Thus, when choosing the option for the international registration of an industrial design you need, you should, first of all, decide on the list of countries in which you will need to obtain legal protection.
An increasing number of developing countries are now joining the Hague System. And applicants are also increasingly giving preference to international registration precisely under the Hague system.
