Design

Design

IF AESTHETICS IS INVOLVED…

Subject matter of registration can be the designs and the models that are new and have individual character.

Design or model is intended the appearance of the whole product or of a part thereof which results, particularly, from the characteristics of the lines, of the contours, of the colours, of the form, of the superficial structure and/or of the materials of the same product and/or of its ornament.

For product any kind of industrial or handicraft object is understood, including the components to be assembled to form a complex product (provided that they are "visible"), the packages, the presentations, the graphic symbols and the typographic characters.

The duration of the design or model registration in Italy is 5 years and can be extended for one or more periods of 5 years up to a maximum of 25 years.

It is possible to effect an international registration with W.I.P.O. (World Organization for the Intellectual Ownership) or a national registration in the majority of the foreign States.

Starting from 1 April 2003 it is effective the European Community Design which allows to obtain, with one application filed with one Office (O.H.I.M. - Office for the Harmonization of the Internal Market - at Alicante, Spain), a design registration which has the same effects in all EU States.Said registration may include several designs (multiple Registered Community Design) belonging to the same class of Locarno, with a cost advantage based on the number of designs.

The registration of the design in Italy or at the O.H.I.M. lasts 5 years and may be extended for one or more periods of five years up to a maximum of 25 years.