European Design

An application for registration must contain one or more images of the product to be protected, which may consist of photographs or sufficiently detailed drawings, possibly accompanied by a brief description of the product itself. By submitting a single application, registration may also be requested for several designs, without limitation as to their number, provided that they relate to products having common and homogeneous aesthetic characteristics and belonging to the same class of the international classification of industrial designs. 

A design registration is valid until proven otherwise, which can be provided by an interested third party at any time. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), where the application for registration is filed, registers the design in the Register of Registered European Designs once it has completed its formal examination procedures and publishes the registration in the European Designs Bulletin. 

However, the applicant is entitled to request, upon payment of a fee, the deferment of such publication for a maximum of 30 months from the filing date or, if priority is claimed, from the priority date. The European Design allows the applicant to prohibit and prevent all imitations, even unintentional ones, without having to prove that they are based on copies of his own design. 

It allows protection for a period of five years from the date of filing of the relevant application, renewable four times up to a maximum protection period of 25 years.