Novelty
In order to be able to protect your Design, it must be new. A design is considered as new if no other identical design has been made publicly accessible before the filing date or priority date. A Design is considered as identical to another Design if they only differ in unimportant respects.
Publicly accessible
A Design Is considered to be publicly accessible if it has been made public in connection with a registration or in some other way. The same applies if your Design has been displayed, used in the professional capacity or become known in some other way.
However, your design is considered to be publicly accessible if Trade groups in the sector (within the European Economic Area) could not reasonably, in their normal business operations, have known about the publication of Design.
Novelty Time Limit
Neither is a Design considered to have been made publicly accessible if it has been made in Public, or in some other way become known, by the Designer within a period of 12 months before the Filing date or priority date.
Individual character
In Order to protect your Design, it must also have individual character. A Design has individual character if the overall impression differs from previously known Designs. It is not possible to protect your designs that is so simple and common place that it should be available for everyone to use. For Example, if something is made simply of geometrical shapes or simple striped and checked patterns. As a rule, it is not enough to just redesign an old Design.
Other requirements
It is not possible to register a Design, that without permission includes:
- A nation coat of arms, national Flag or other State Emblem.
- A national control or guarantee designation, another designation that refers to swedish state and as such gives the design an official character, a Swedish municipal coat of arms, an international Designation that is protected according to the act on the protection of coats of arms and certain other official designations or something that can easily be mistaken for a coat of arms, flags, emblem or Designation.
No Design that are contrary to morality or public order be registered.
Important to consider
BIATConsultant at any time can revok Design protection after opposition if it is found that the design, without permission, includes someone else’s
- Protected company
- Trademark
- Portrait
- Family Name
- Artist Name
- Copyright protected work or something that infringes someone else’s Copyright