rcd presentation

© Agency TRIA ROBIT 2012

Design protectionin the European Union:

New possibilities

COMPANY PROFILE

• One of the leading intellectual property law firms in the Baltic States

• Offices in Riga, Latvia and Moscow, Russia

• Practices in the Baltic States and the European Union, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia

• Internationally recognized and consistently ranked in top tier positions of international rankings in the region

COMPANY PROFILE

• Professional team of 12 experienced European, Eurasian and Latvian Patent, Design & Trademark Attorneys

• Members of:AIPLA, AIPPI, CILS, ECTA, FICPI, INTA, ITMA, LPPA, MARQUES, PTMG, UN/ECE

• Active participation in INTA and ECTA Committees

• Broad network of carefully selected partners in the operating areas

OUR SERVICES

• We provide a full range of intellectual property services, advising and assisting in IP protection, management and enforcement worldwide

• We are working with all kinds of Intellectual Property, including patents, trademarks, industrial designs, as well as copyright and Internet domain names

• Full service from registration till enforcement & litigation

OUR SERVICES

Experience supported by modern technologies:

www.triarobit.eu

• Online Trademark Search• Online Filings of Community Trademarks• Online Filings of Community Designs

THE COMMUNITY DESIGN SYSTEM

• Two types of legal protection:• Registered Community Design• Unregistered Community Design

• Basic law:Council Regulation (EC) Nº 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community Designs

RCD vs. UCD

• Unregistered Community Design (UCD)- Arguments against:

must be disclosed limited protection (3 years only) narrower scope of rights (protection from copying only)+ Arguments for:

“automatic” protection favorable for short-term perspective

• Registered Community Design (RCD) + Arguments for:

formal procedure is comparatively quick and cheap no need to prove prior disclosure much stronger protection than UCD:

o longer protection term (up to 25 years)o broader scope of rights (reproduction and copying)

COMMUNITY DESIGN

A "design" means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation

A "product" means any industrial or handicraft item, including inter alia parts intended to be assembled into a complex product, packaging, get-up, graphic symbols and typographic typefaces, but excluding computer programs

A "complex product" means a product which is composed of multiple components which can be replaced permitting disassembly and re-assembly of the product

• Almost anything, any handicraft or industrial product can be protected:

• Trade dress & Packaging• Logos & Symbols• Shape of product• Ornamentation & texture• Etc.

• Outward appearance or shape of the product, but not the function of the product

WHAT CAN BE PROTECTED

WHAT CAN BE PROTECTED

PACKAGING

RCD 001819558

RCD 000769088

RCD 000769088

WHAT CAN BE PROTECTED

LOGOS

RCD 001812751

RCD 001803545

RCD 001823964

WHAT CAN BE PROTECTED

SHAPE OF PRODUCT

RCD 000712997

RCD 000475850

RCD 001601113

WHAT CAN BE PROTECTED

SHAPE OF PRODUCT

WHAT CAN BE PROTECTED

ORNAMENTATION & TEXTURE

RCD 001584731 RCD 001613282

WHAT CAN BE PROTECTED

GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES

WHAT CANNOT BE PROTECTED

• not industrial or handicraft item

• immoral or contradictory to public policy

• not consisting of outward appearance of a product

• not visible in normal use

REQUIREMENTS FOR PROTECTION

• NOVELTY the design is being compared to other designs made available to the public before

o GRACE PERIODpossibility to market a product during one-year period without losing novelty

• INDIVIDUAL CHARACTER overall impression produced by the design on the informed user must differ from the overall impression produced on such a user by any other design made available to the public earlier

OBTAINING PROTECTION5-10 days

FILING THE APPLICATION

• Required documents / information:

• Information on the holder• Graphic representation of the design • Indication of product in accordance with classification

• No limitations on applicants• any natural / legal person can file the application

• Filing date = registration date

FILING THE APPLICATION

• Multiple applications

• Registration of several designs by a single application

• Products may be different but must belong to one and the same class of the Locarno classification (except for ornamentation)

FILING THE APPLICATION

• Representation of the design• Graphic and/or photographic

o Colored representations if the colors or color combination are a part of the design

• Different views of the designo Any number of views from 1 to 7

• Protected as showno Protection is limited to the features shown on the representations

• Good quality and neutral background

FORMAL EXAMINATION

• Views relating to different products

FORMAL EXAMINATION

• Views relating to one product

FORMAL EXAMINATION

• Additional elements are acceptable only if used for explanatory purposes

• Any text, wording or symbols, which are not a protectable part of design, should be removed

Not acceptable Acceptable

ADDITIONAL POSSIBILITIES – DEFERMENT OF PUBLICATION

• Design registered but not published

• Maximum duration of deferment 30 months

• Important in fashion or automobile industry

• Reduces an opportunity of copying the design by competitors while the original product is not put on the market

RIGHTS GIVEN BY REGISTRATION

• exclusive right to use

• to prevent any third party from using without consent

• making, offering, putting on the market, importing, exporting or using a product in which the design is incorporated or to which it is applied, or stocking such a product for those purposes is infringement

• protection is not limited to nominated goods

THANKS FOR ATTENTION!

ANY QUESTIONS?ANY QUESTIONS?

For additional information

please contact us:

Agency TRIA ROBIT

P.O. Box 22, LV 1010, Riga, Latvia

5 Vilandes Str., Riga, Latvia

Phone: +371 67320300

Fax: +371 67325600

E-mail: info@triarobit.com

Web: www.triarobit.com