2 years
A novelty grace period of 6 months prior to the filing date/priority date may be granted if the invention is disclosed as a result of apparent misuse by the applicant or its former right holders, or if the invention is exhibited at an official or officially recognized exhibition.
The initial protection is 5 years, which can be renewed 4 times for a maximum protection of 25 years.
Reinstatement of priority on grounds of "due care" and "unintentional/due care" accepted.
1 month
- via Paris Convention : 6 months from earliest priority date.
- EU route: 6 months from earliest priority date.
- Hague Agreement route: 6 months from earliest priority date.
yes. If multiple designs have at least one of the same category, a maximum of 50 designs can be included in one design.
A novelty grace period of 6 months prior to the filing date/priority date may be granted if the invention is disclosed as a result of apparent misuse by the applicant or its former right holders, or if the invention is exhibited at an official or officially recognized exhibition.
yes. Prior to patent grant/rejection, the patent type can be converted from utility model to invention at the request of the applicant. Can only be converted once.
If within 12 months before the filing of the design patent application, due to the disclosure of the designer or its former right holder, the novelty grace period can be enjoyed.
via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
via Nationalization of PCT : 30 months from the earliest priority date.
Validation of European Patent in EPO member states: within 3 months from the date of grant of the European patent.