Current status of design applications

Current status of design applications

01Industrial product design

In a legal sense, industrial design (hereinafter referred to as appearance) refers to the decorative or aesthetic features of an object. In principle, registered industrial designs are also an exclusive right in intellectual property rights. The owner of the design has the right to prevent third parties from making, selling or importing for commercial purposes copies that bear or embody the protected design, or that are substantially Sexual reproduction.

Most countries adopt a registration system for design applications. You only need to submit complete application documents that meet the formal requirements of each country to obtain authorization. The formal review is basically focused on whether it violates public order and good customs. However, there are also contracting parties such as Canada, Japan, South Korea (excluding categories 01, 02, 03, 05, 09, 11 and 19), Russia and the United States that require international registration of designs to include novelty. A review of the substantive grounds within.

02 Design application countries favored by Chinese applicants

Since May 5, 2022, the "Hague Agreement" (full name "Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement on Industrial Designs") has officially entered into force in China. As the hottest topic in the intellectual property world at the moment, it has already had an impact on many industries in China. varying degrees of impact. According to information provided by the WIPO China Office, on the effective date of May 5 alone, 34 Chinese companies submitted international appearance applications through the Hague system.

According to the total number of design applications submitted overseas by Chinese applicants between 2015 and 2020 (including direct applications and applications submitted through the Hague route), the United States, the European Union and Japan have the largest number of applications. The editor of Page Code is based on all countries The following word cloud chart was created based on the number of applications to help everyone understand the appearance application countries favored by Chinese applicants.

03 Number of Chinese design applications in the EU

Affected by the UK's departure from the EU, starting from March 30, 2019 (i.e. "Brexit Day"), EU design-related laws will no longer apply to the UK. If a design is registered under the Hague system and designated in the EU, the design will only be registered in the UK. It is valid in the 27 EU member states. If the applicant wants to seek design protection in the UK, he needs to submit a separate application to the British Patent Office.

However, rights to EU appearances that have been authorized will not be lost in the UK. Since January 1, 2021, the British Intellectual Property Office has automatically converted these patents into British appearance patents (also known as "clone" patents). "Clone" patents enjoy the same legal status as EU appearance patents. The patentee needs to It is transferred, licensed and renewed separately in the UK and EU.

Among the EU member states, Spain, Germany, France, Ireland and Italy are the countries with the highest number of Chinese appearance applications. These countries are also recognized as design powers in the world. The distribution of appearance applications by Chinese applicants in EU countries is as follows: