Conditions for Protection
- Protection granted only to new or ornamental industrial designs.
- Designs primarily dictated by technical or functional considerations or contrary to public order, health, or morals are excluded.
- Protection of layout-designs limited to original creations constituting intellectual effort and not commonplace.
- Combinations of commonplace elements in layout-designs are protected only if the combination is original as a whole.
Application Requirements
- Applications must include:
- Registration request
- Applicant identification
- Indication of the article of manufacture or handicraft
- Adequate representation (drawings, photos, or graphics) fully disclosing protective features
- Name and address of creator or origin of rights if applicant is not the creator
- Specimens of the article may accompany the application.
- Payment of prescribed fees is required.
Examination Procedure
- Filing date corresponds to receipt of application with essential elements enabling applicant identification and representation of the design.
- Incomplete applications must be completed within prescribed periods or considered withdrawn.
- Examination includes verifying compliance with definitions and substantive conditions.
Registration Process
- Registration ordered if substantive conditions are met; refusal if not.
- Certificates must state creator’s name and address.
- Registrations are published per regulations.
- Changes in proprietor identity are recorded upon proof and fee payment.
- Register and files are open for public inspection.
Term and Renewal of Registration
- Industrial designs: 5 years from filing date with option to renew twice for 5 years each upon payment of fees.
- Renewal fees to be paid within 12 months before expiration; 6-month grace period allowed with surcharge.
- Layout-designs: 10 years from commencement of protection, no renewal.
- Protection start:
- Date of first commercial exploitation worldwide (application filed within 2 years)
- Date of application if no prior commercial exploitation
Application of Patent Provisions
- Several patent-related sections apply mutatis mutandis to industrial design registrations, including novelty, prior art, non-prejudicial disclosure, filing rules, remedies, and infringement.
- Equivalent provisions apply to layout-design registrations with additional specific provisions governing layout-design rights.
Rights and Limitations of Layout-Design Owners
- Rights:
- Reproduce the registered layout-design or parts thereof, except non-original parts.
- Sell or distribute for commercial purposes articles or integrated circuits incorporating the layout-design.
- Limitations:
- Private reproduction or for evaluation, analysis, research, or teaching.
- Acts concerning independently created original layout-designs based on such analysis.
- Acts concerning products marketed by or with consent of right holder.
- Innocent acquisition without knowledge of unlawful reproduction; limited stock use with royalty payments after notice.
Cancellation of Registration
- Grounds for cancellation of industrial designs:
- Unregisterable subject matter
- Lack of novelty
- Extension beyond original application content
- Partial cancellation possible for affected design features.
- Grounds for layout-design cancellation:
- Non-protectable design
- Lack of entitlement to protection
- Application filed beyond 2 years after first commercial exploitation
- Partial cancellation allowed; cancellations regarded as null and void.
Implementing Rules and Regulations
- Intellectual Property Office authorized to issue implementing regulations covering fees, procedural details, and administrative instructions.
Applicability
- Provisions apply to layout-designs commercially exploited worldwide from January 1998 onward, provided protection conditions are met.
Repealing, Separability, and Effectivity
- Inconsistent laws repealed or amended.
- Invalid provisions do not affect the remainder of the Act.
- The Act takes effect 15 days after publication in two newspapers of general circulation.