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| Design right A right to a design is an industrial property right that protects the appearance of a product or a part of the product. Design right only protects the appearance of the product. The appearance of a design is the overall impression of its lines, contours, colours, texture, materials, etc. The object of protection is always a concrete article or a part thereof. Design protection can be obtained for practical items such as scissors, an axe, a chair, a bun, etc. Protection may also be obtained for a non-separable part of a product. Design right confers the exclusive right (with certain exceptions) to use the design. To obtain an exclusive right to a design, the design must be registered. More about utility model protection at the web pages of the Board of Patents and Registration. International applications for design protectionApplications for design protection may also be filed with the office responsible for industrial rights issues (patent office) of a given country in accordance with local design right systems. The Community Design protection system makes it possible to obtain design protection for the whole of the EU with a single application. The registration authority for Community Designs is the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) located in Alicante, Spain. Further information on Community Design applications is available on the OHIM website. Applying for design protection in FinlandIn Finland, applications for design protection are submitted to the National Board of Patents and Registration. The registration is valid for 25 years from the date of application. The term of protection comprises five periods of five years each. Preliminary examinationsThe Design Rights unit carries out so-called preliminary examinations of novelty and obstacles to manufacturing. The examination is subject to a fee. The DesignsNet service on the NBPR website provides access to basic information and images of specific designs included in pending applications for design registration, valid registrations and designs deleted from the register. The service only includes registrations made in Finland and applications for design registration filed in Finland. DesignsNetDesign protection is valid for five years from the date of application. The registration may be renewed for four further periods of five years each. The maximum term of protection is 25 years. Registration applications are submitted to the National Board of Patents and Registration in writing. Ready-made application forms in Finnish and Swedish are available from the National Board of Patents and Registration and the NBPR website. The minimum application fee is 154 Euro. The final cost depends on the number of designs and angles, etc. The application may contain an unlimited number of designs, if the designs in the application are included in the same main class in the current classification system. The renewal fee is 229–360 Euro per renewal (in 2008).  | ||
