Register design
Source: BUS Rheinland-PfalzRegistered designs protect the appearance of industrially or manually manufactured two- or three-dimensional products, such as
- clothing
- furniture
- vehicles
- fabrics
- ornamental objects or
- graphic symbols.
Parts of products can also be protected as registered designs, for example the sole of a sports shoe or the cap of a writing instrument. General ideas, concepts or design principles cannot be protected.
With a registered design, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) grants a temporary monopoly on the appearance, i.e. the external shape and color scheme of a product. The representations of the design (reproduction) that you submit with the application are therefore particularly important. Only what is visibly reproduced in the representations is protected.
Protection arises when the design is entered in the register kept by the DPMA. It is valid throughout the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. As the owner of a registered design, you have the exclusive right to use the design. You can prohibit third parties from using your design in the manufacture, sale, import or export of products. This also means that you, as the design owner, can take action against any design that does not create a different overall impression on the informed user than your registered design.
When you register a design, it is checked
- whether the application meets the legal requirements, in particular whether all the necessary information is included and the design representations meet the formal requirements, and
- whether the design applied for is designable, i.e. whether it shows the specific shape and color of a product. The design must also be compatible with public order and morality and must not constitute a misuse of national emblems or other signs of public interest.
However, it is not examined whether the design applied for also fulfills the other substantive requirements for protection - for example with regard to the novelty and individual character of the design. A design is therefore also registered if one or more of these requirements for protection are missing. These requirements for protection are only examined in court in the event of a dispute in invalidity proceedings before the DPMA or in the event of a counterclaim in infringement proceedings.
If your design has been registered and no request for deferment of publication of the representation has been filed, the protection is valid for 5 years from the filing date. You can then maintain protection up to four times by paying the maintenance fees on time. In total, you can protect your design for a maximum of 25 years.