Protection for your creative work

A design right is intended to cover the appearance of an object, and give an exclusive right to the design's exploitation for a certain period. ‘Design' refers to the appearance of a product or a part of it based on the product or its ornamental design, such as lines, contours, colours, form, surface structures or materials.

Application and duration of a design right

The registration of the design in question is required for the granting of a design right. Design rights are national and the design must be registered separately in each country in question. Registration requires that the design be novel and unique. The National Board of Patents and Registration functions as Finland's registration office.

A design right, a patent and/or a utility model can be obtained for the same product. The design right protects the visual appearance of the product or part while the patent and utility model protect the invention itself. A design right remains in force for five years from the date of application, and is renewable four times for five years at a time. This gives a maximum protection period of 25 years. 

Community design system

A community design system provides a product with protection throughout the EU on the basis of a single application. The right enters into force and ends on an EU-wide basis. No merely national or regional protection of this type is available.

Unregistered community design rights are protected for three years from the date upon which the design was first disclosed to the community. They afford protection to the holder only against copying.

Further details on design right: National Board of Patents and Registration.