Industrial designs

The fierce competition within the market renders industrial designs a strong asset for companies enjoying pertinent exclusive rights. A new and distinctive design attracts the attention of buyers and can become an easily recognizable business card.

An industrial design is a new and individual form of a product, or of a part thereof, determined in particular by the features of lines, contours, shapes, colors, texture or material of the product and by its ornamentation, and thus the protection is granted for the appearance of the product or part thereof, i.e. for the external form thereof.

Industrial designs are protected by rights in registration, and said exclusive rights, limited as to term and territory, can be obtained under the following three procedures:

National procedure

Under the Polish national procedure an application for an industrial design is filed with the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. The procedure leading to obtaining the right in registration is relatively quick, as it entails just a formal examination.

An industrial design registration may also be sought in other countries, by filing suitable design applications with the respective national patent offices, with the possibility of claiming a priority date from a national application in Poland.

International procedure

The international procedure for registration of industrial designs (under the Hague Agreement) allows for obtaining protection in selected signatory states by filing a single design application. Applications may be filed directly with the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or through the Polish Patent Office.

After the formal examination of the application performed by WIPO, the patent offices in the designated states decide independently of each other on the grant or refusal of the registration of an industrial design.

Community procedure

The Community procedure consists in filing industrial design applications with the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for obtaining the registration valid in the entire territory of the European Union, including Poland.

The application may be filed directly with the EUIPO or, upon the payment of an additional fee, through the Polish Patent Office.

Protection of an industrial design lasts for a maximum of 25 years and is divided into five period of five years each, starting from the filing date. A relevant renewal fee has to be paid before the expiration of each protection period.

We provide our Clients with comprehensive assistance in selecting the most advantageous protection system along with preparing an appropriate application documentation. Our patent attorneys can represent our Clients not only before the Polish Patent Office, but also before the EUIPO.

Regarding the filing of national applications in other countries, we have formed alliances over the years with time-proven foreign patent attorney offices that we trust can assist you properly and efficiently.