What can be register as an industrial design?

A design of an industrial or artisanal product, such as: school chair, clothes, home appliance, desk, bookcase, lamp…

What should be the main purpose of the industrial design?

Special appearance, when a design only has technical function it cannot be registered.

Apart from an only technical design, what cannot be registered?

• The design that has the intellectual property right of another, for example trademark or copyright
• The design which may infringe public order or morality
• The design containing public interest elements, like the national flag or national coat of arms

Who is the owner of the industrial design?

As a general rule, the owner is the designer or the designers that participated in its creation.

Why do I have to register?

Registration grants protection over the design, preventing someone else from using your creation.

Which are the main conditions for registration?

• Novelty: when it hasn’t been disclosed or made accessible to the public anywhere. (Rules regarding patent disclosure may also apply here)
• Singularity: taking always into account the designer’s liberty at the moment of the creation, this condition demands that the design impresses the general public in a different way.

How long does the registration last?

Industrial design registration is valid for a total of fifteen (15) years, during this period it must be renewed every five (5) years.

What is the registration process?

1. Application before the National Office of Industrial Property (Oficina Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial or ONAPI):

• Applicant, designer(s) and/or representatives
• Description of the design
• Graphics of the design
• Name of the design
• Classification of the design according to the Locarno Agreement

1. Formal examination
2. Publication of the application: grants 30 days for others to oppose the registration
3. Substance examination
4. Publication of the registration concession

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