Essential Facts about Design

1. Why is it necessary to protect a design?
2. What is a design?
3. To which products does industrial design apply?
4. How can an industrial design be protected?
5. How can industrial design be internationally protected?

Design Registration Procedure

1. Who can file an application for design registration?
2. Is it mandatory to appoint an attorney for the filing of the application?
3. When does the procedure for design registration begin?
4. What is a priority right?

5. Which elements does a duly filed application for design right registration comprise?
A duly filed application for registration of design right consists of three elements, namely: a) a request for the registration of the design; b) a description of the design; c) a graphic presentation of the design. Attached to the application are: a duly executed power of attorney, if the application is filed through a representative; a certified copy of the application (a priority certificate) that the applicant has duly filed an application in a Paris Union member state, if the priority right is claimed; a receipt, that is, a certificate issued by the Serbian Chamber of Commerce that the applicant has exhibited the appearance of the subject matter of protection in an international exhibition or fair in the Republic of Serbia, and if he has exhibited in an international exhibition or fair in some other Paris Union member state, a certificate issued by the competent authority of that state; proof of the payment of fees.
a) A request for design right registration
- What is a request for design right registration and where can the applicant obtain one?
A request for design right registration is the Form D-1 which is printed in the Office, and the applicant can obtain one in the Filing Office of the Intellectual Property Office personally, or he can order it by phone or by mail. The form of the request can also be downloaded from our web site.
- What should be used for completing a request for design right registration?
A typewriter or a computer, in the Cyrillic or Latin alphabet. A handwritten request will be treated by the Office as not duly filed and will not be processed.
- How many copies of a request should be filed?
Two copies. Both copies of a request for the registration of a right to design have to be identical.
- What does a request for design right registration contain?
- information on the business name and registered address of the applicant, for a legal entity, or the last name, first name and address of the applicant if he is a natural person;
- information on a representative, if the application is filed through a representative;
- a real and brief title of the subject matter of protection;
- information on the designer (if he is not the one who is filing the application) or a declaration to the effect that the designer does not want to be named in the application;
- legal grounds for the filing of the application if the designer is not the applicant;
- information on the claimed priority right;
- signature and seal of the applicant;
- a remark to the effect that the publication of the registered design right is requested twelve months after the date on which a decision on the registration of the design right has been issued (deferred publication);
- information on the payment of fees.
b) A design description
- The scope of the rights which are acquired to the registered design is determined by the contents of the description of a design, which is based on the submitted graphic presentation.
- The description must be typed (on a typewriter or computer), terminologically unambiguous and comprehensible, on A4 paper (297x210mm) and clean. Only one side of a sheet of paper can be used. For more details on the methodology for drawing up a description, see Instructions on the Methodology for Preparing and Filing Applications for the Registration of Design Right.
c) A graphic presentation (a photograph or a drawing) of the design
- A photograph or a drawing of a design should be filed in two copies, in the following manner: one copy is pasted to the Form D-1, while the other one is filed separately as an attachment. The photographs which are filed have to be of professional standard, without background, obtained from negatives or diapositives and must have straight angles. The subject matter of protection has to be presented in a neutral and plain background and must not have any shading.
- The drawings that are filed have to be originals and of professional standard as well, produced with technical drawing instruments, and the subject matter of protection has to be presented in perspective (axonometrically). In the Instructions on the Methodology for Preparing and Filing Applications for the Registration of Design Right it is possible to find more on the photographs and drawings of the deposited shape.
d) A power of attorney
A power of attorney is an integral part of the application for registration of a model and/or sample only in those cases where the applicant files his application through an attorney (representative).
A power of attorney is a contract concluded between an applicant and an attorney, on the basis of which the applicant authorizes the attorney to file an application for registration of a model and/or sample in his name and for his account. In addition to the declaration on the authorization which has been issued, a power of attorney has to contain a reference to the number of the case file, the D-number, to which such authorization refers, it must be signed by the attorney and by the applicant and the original must be filed. A copy of a power of attorney will not be accepted by the Office. A copy of a power of attorney, however, may be taken into account in two cases:
- if the applicant has several applications for registration of design right and if he is represented by the same attorney in all the applications, then it is sufficient to file the original of the power of attorney in one of those applications, while to other applications copies of the original may be attached. On each copy of the power of attorney it must be clearly indicated in which case file the original of the power of attorney can be found. It is done by indicating the D-number of the case file that contains the original of the power of attorney.
- if the applicant issues to the attorney a general power of attorney which authorizes him to represent the applicant in all the transactions related to the protection of intellectual property, then a copy of such a power of attorney can be attached to the specific application for registration of a model and/or sample. A general power of attorney must be deposited with the Intellectual Property Office and on a copy of such a power of attorney, in a specific application for registration of design right, it must be clearly indicated under which number such deposit was made.

6. What are the stages and duration of the design registration procedure?
7. When has a design been created and how long is its validity period?
8. How to renew the validity of a design?

Other Relevant Questions

1. Can the appearance of a design be subsequently changed in the course of the design registration procedure?
2. What should the applicant do if the name of the applicant is changed, or his address, that is, his name and address, or if the right from the application is assigned to another natural or legal person, during the procedure for design registration?
3. Which applications are examined in an expedited procedure?