Deposit and Renew Industrial Fees and Models
WIPO defined industrial design as: “The decorative or aesthetic appearance of a piece.”
Industrial design is the decorative or aesthetic appearance of a piece. The design can consist of stereoscopic elements, such as the shape or surface of the piece, or of two-dimensional elements, such as drawings, fonts or colors.
In principle, the registered industrial design owner or registered design patent has the right to prevent others from making, selling or importing products that carry a design or embody a design that is an image of the protected design, when they engage in such business for commercial purposes.
Industrial designs are applied to a wide range of industry and craft products: from casings and containers to furniture and household supplies; From lighting equipment to jewellery; and from electronic devices to textiles. Industrial designs may also concern graphic codes, user interfaces and logos.
Most countries require industrial design to be registered to benefit from protection under the Industrial Design Act as a “registered design”. Some countries ensure that industrial designs are protected under the Patent Act as “design patents”.
Some countries’ industrial design laws provide for duration and scope protection — without registration — of what are known as “undocumented industrial designs”.
According to the relevant national law and design type, industrial designs may also be protected as art works under the copyright law.
With regard to Lebanese law, the period of protection resulting from the deposit of a fee or form is five years, beginning on the date of the first deposit. This period can be extended for two consecutive years. It has been determined by law to be 25 years for the first term and is renewed again for the same period, i.e. another 25 years.
After the expiration of these two periods, the drawing or form becomes the public’s property and is distributed to industrial enterprises capable of benefiting from it.
The provisions of the Penal Code set forth criminal penalties for mimicking a drawing or model, as well as civil protection through an unlawful competition action.
The Act requires three conditions for punishment:
- There must be a tradition of drawing or model, and it takes the likeness, not the difference.
- The drawing or form must be deposited.
- The drawing must be published at the time of the tradition.
As far as international protection is concerned, it has established an international regime under the Hague Convention of 6 November 1925, amended in London in 2 June 1934, and who deposited the fee or industrial model as an international deposit, until proven otherwise, owns it.
An international deposit originates in the right, and in the Contracting States it has the same effects as if such industrial fees and models had been deposited in those States on the same date as an international deposit, and the international deposit period is fifteen years from the date of deposit.
Our company carries out all necessary procedures to help you safeguard your rights, whether deposited or renewed, nationally or internationally.
Practice Areas
Contact
Mount Lebanon, Aley, Saraya Mall
+961 3 869 917
info@confidence-ip.com