A new system has been created for protecting designs in Europe. It will soon be possible to obtain a single registration which will cover all fifteen countries of the European Union for a period of up
to 25 years.
It will be possible to use the system to cover a very wide range of designs, both 2 and 3 dimensional, including many purely functional items, packaging, get-up and even graphic symbols such as logos or computer icons. The system is therefore expected to provide an extremely useful form of protection not hitherto available and it will be of interest to trademark owners, licensing companies, designers, manufacturers and many others besides.
In a significant departure from past practice, the new system will include a "grace" period allowing applications to be filed up to 12 months after disclosures. There will also be a "deferred
publication" option enabling newly registered designs to be kept secret for up to 30 months.
Jenkins