Industrial design
An Industrial design right protects the outward appearance of a product or part of it, resulting from the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture, materials and/or its ornamentation. Industrial design rights may be registered for two-dimensional objects like patterns of a fabric for clothes or the 3-dimensional shape of a bottle for mineral water to give a few examples.
However, to the extend the design also fulfills a technical function that may be at the same time be subject of a patent, the design is excluded from design right protection. For example if you have invented a new lock with new formed interlocking keys, the part of the keys that interlock, are excluded from design rights, as they could be protected as a patent. But the other part of the key, e.g. the handle of the key that has no new technical function might be still protected as a design right:
A design only covers the appearance of a product.
A design cannot protect the function of a product.
According to Monaco Design Law the design has to be a new creation. Industrial objects must differ from similar objects either by a distinctive and recognizable configuration giving it characteristics of novelty or by one or a plurality of external effects giving it its own new physiognomy.
The industrial design right can be extended every 10 years to a maximum of 50 years counting from the date of the application or if it has been brought into circulation before from that date on.
How to protect your industrial designs in Monaco?
In order to file a design right in Monaco we do need from you:
- Name, address and profession of the applicant
- Name, address of the creator of the design if different from applicant
- Four identical two-dimensional reproductions (photos or drawing) of the object, the longest side not larger than 25cm
- The nature of the object (e.g. water bottle)
- In the event of claiming a priority the priority document
- In the event you put the object into circulation the date and a description of the circumstances