The FAI IP Consulting Firm team with EUIPO representation provides EU-based and global IP strategy and management including invention harvesting, searching, IP landscape analysis, drafting, filing and prosecution of registered designs, IP valuation, and worldwide IP management (renewals, register changes etc.).
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Use our transatlantic IP team to protect your designs all over the world. The team includes practitioner consultants registered to practice patent design law and registered design law before the USPTO, UKIPO, EUIPO, WIPO. FAI is ideally placed to handle your design filing and prosecution in any country.
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APPLYING FOR A EUROPEAN COMMUNITY DESIGN
A community design under the European Community Design Regulation provides uniform protection for designs with uniform effect throughout the entire territory of the European Union. Community designs can be registered to provide long term absolute protection against use of the design. Unregistered community designs provide short term protection against copying only.
The major advantage of a Community Design application is that it can be much more cost effective than filing and prosecuting several national applications. It is also possible to include multiple designs in one application subject to reduced official fees so that alternatives and prototypes can be included in the application in case they are chosen for commercialization. Our EU team files and prosecutes community design applications at the Office for the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Get in touch with our IP specialists here.
Appearance of the whole or part of a product. A product means any industrial or handcraft item, including parts of a more complex product, packaging, get-up, graphic symbols and typographic interfaces. To register a design it must be:
- Novel – differ by more than immaterial details from known designs
- Have Individual Character – produce a different overall impression on the informed user (usually end user)
A Community design provides protection in all (currently 27) countries of the European Union. Note that the United Kingdom is not longer part of the EU and a European community design no longer covers the UK. Separate design protection in the UK, a separate UK design must be filed before the UKIPO. Our UK team files and prosecutes UK design applications – find out more.
For Design protection outside of the EU see Worldwide Design Protection.
- Unregistered Community Design – limited, short term protection (3 years from publication in EU)
- Registered Community Design – long term protection (up to 25 years)
- Unregistered Community Design – No renewal fees
- Registered Community Design – Yes, for five year periods upto maximum 25 years total
A design that has been disclosed to the public by the designer or in consequence of a disclosure made by the designer does not prevent obtaining protection provided the application for the community design is filed within 12 months of the first design disclosure.
Note that, where at all possible, an application for a community design should be filed before disclosing your design. Disclosing your design to the public can jeopardize design protection elsewhere. Furthermore, disclosures made independently of the designer will be considered for purpose of assessing novelty and individual character. It is best to file as soon as possible in case someone else files a similar design.
our services
Design searches
Landscape Search & Analysis
Worldwide Design Filing & Prosecution
IP management & Renewals
Drafting, Filing & Prosecuting European Community Design Applications
Declarations of Invalidity of European Community Designs
Infringement and Validity Opinions
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