NATIONAL DESIGN

It is possible to obtain exclusive rights on ornamental or aesthetic features of a new product having individual character through industrial design protection.

The range of registrable products is quite wide. Figurative designs that may be applied on products as an embellishment or decoration are registrable designs.

It is not allowed to register those features of a product which must be necessarily reproduced in their exact form and dimensions in order to connect the product to another product, nor those features of the product’s appearance which are defined only by its technical function.

Particular graphic elements which are not registrable as trademarks or which are of temporary use may be included in the application.

 

 

Italian Design

 

Registration protects the design (model or drawing) all over the Italian territory, in the State of San Marino, and it may be recognized in the Vatican State. The application has to be filed at the UPICA or UIBM offices.

 

Requirements for national designs and models to be registrable:

 

  • Novelty.
  • Individual character.
  • Shall not be contrary to public order and morality.
  • Shall contain no signs, emblems or coats of arms having a special public interest for the State.

 

It is important to know that:

 

  • Novelty must be absolute: divulgation by third parties of the design before the filing date of the application or before the priority date could make the design void.
  • On the contrary, divulgation of the design by the author does not jeopardize its possibility to be registrable if the application for registration is filed within the 12 months following the date of such a divulgation.
  • Moreover, the registrability of a design is not prejudiced by disclosures that have not been reasonably available to specialised and interested circles within the Italian territory.
  • It is possible to file a multiple design, that is a group of models and drawings falling within the same product class of the International Classification of Locarno for Industrial Designs.
  • No opposition procedure exists.
  • The UIBM carries out an examination of the model to verify its fulfilment of the formal requirements to make it registrable, not to determine the novelty of its design.

 

Applicant for a national design or model:

 

  • Natural person
  • Legal person of Italian or foreign nationality

 

 

Registration of a national design or model:

 

  • Registration occurs about 6 months after the filing date, but the design owner’s exclusive rights can be exercised even though the model or design is still not granted.

 

Priority:

 

  • It is possible to claim the priority of a first design application filed in a member state of the Paris Convention, within 6 months from that first application’s date.

 

Duration and renewal of a national design or model:

  • The total duration is 25 years from the filing date.
  • Maintenance fees consist of 4 five-year payments following the first 5 years from the filing date.

 

Design and copyright:

 

  • Designs having a peculiar creative element and artistic value might be protected also by copyright.