File a German or European design application

Registered designs protect the external appearance of products.

To register a design, suitable pictorial representations and a so-called product specification must be prepared.

In addition, the following requirements must be met to successfully submit a design:

• the design must be new
• the design must have an individual character

A design is new if it has not been published before. However, there is a grace period of 12 months for designs during which prior publication by the applicant is unproblematic.

Whether a design has an individual character, i.e. whether the overall impression differs from already known designs, depends among other things on the design density. For example, the design of a wheel rim already fulfills the requirement of individuality with fewer deviations (from known designs) than the design of an excavator, for which significantly fewer designs are registered.

With a registered design you can take action against plagiarism of your products for up to 25 years.

Protect your products, especially if, for example, patent protection is not possible or not desired. By means of a registered design you can also file applications for a declaration of nullity against new design applications of competitors and, in case of doubt, enforce claims for injunctive relief, damages and information.

Designs offer many advantages:

• Possibility of renewal for up to 25 years from the filing date
• Possibility of seizure by customs in case of import of counterfeits
• Basis for claims for royalties, injunction and damages
• Significantly strengthened negotiating position vis-à-vis business partners, investors and competition

Designs can be filed nationally for Germany, as Community designs for the entire EU and internationally via the Hague System.

Depending on the desired protection area, designs can be registered nationally or internationally:

• at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) for national protection
• at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for EU-wide protection
• to the Word Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) via the Hague System for protection in selected countries worldwide

In some cases, however, it may make sense to postpone the publication of the design application for the time being to keep the design secret.

The pictorial representation of the design determines the scope of protection.

A very important success factor for design applications is the submitted visual representation. If, for example, you wish to protect the design of a cup handle, the shape of the cup itself is irrelevant. A photo of the entire mug would thus also lead to design protection for the entire mug. In other words, if an "infringer" were to attach your handle to a different cup shape, he or she would usually not infringe your design.

To avoid this, the submitted images must be specially prepared.

The registration of your design takes only from a few weeks to a few months.

Once a design application has been filed, it takes only a few weeks to a few months for the Office to respond.
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If all formal criteria are met, your design will be registered after a short time.

The well-founded preparation of a design application costs about 400-750 EUR.

Usually the costs for a design application are composed as follows:

• Preparation and submission of the design application: approx. 400-750,- EUR plus VAT (depending on complexity)
• Research for known designs, including examination of novelty and peculiarity: approx. 300 up to 3.000,- EUR plus VAT (depending on the desired risk coverage)
• Official fees: from EUR 60,- national and from EUR 350,- EU-wide (depending on the office, no VAT obligation)

Realistically, the average for the sector is expected to be around EUR 650 for a German application and around EUR 950 for an EU-wide application. Good search results can usually be achieved with approx. EUR 1,000.