Industrial design in Austria: Instructions for preparing an application

Each product carries the enthusiasm and creativity of the designer. Registering an industrial design in Austria is a way to honor and protect those values. When you apply for protection, you are asserting that your design is unique and cannot be confused with any other product. This will not only help you build a strong brand, but it will also create a sustainable competitive advantage in the market. By protecting your design, you are contributing to the protection of the diversity and richness of the market, while encouraging continuous creativity. However, many people do not know how to apply for industrial design registration in Austria, Viet An Law would like to guide customers through the following article.

Preliminary Guide to Industrial Design in Austria

What is Industrial Design?

The design protection legally protects the appearance of an industrial product. Appearance includes the characteristics of the product that are perceptible to the human eye such as color, shape, surface structure, and material. Both holographic as well as two-dimensional objects can be legally protected in the form of designs, e.g. clothing, toys, furniture, fabrics, logos or graphic symbols.

However, the design does not protect the idea or invention that underlies the product, its manufacturing method, or the like. The design also does not legally protect the function of an object. Components that are not noticeable when used as intended (e.g. spark plugs) therefore cannot be protected as a design. Also, there is no style protection for computer programs, but this type of protection applies to website layouts, for example. A design constitutes an exclusive right with a limited and limited territory (a monopoly of up to 25 years) and allows the holder of the exclusive right to prevent others from producing, marketing, and selling or using the same product industrially.

Guidance on who has the right to file an application for registration of an industrial design in Austria

Anyone can apply, regardless of whether they are an individual or a legal entity (company).

Instructions for preparing an application for registration of an industrial design in Austria

You can download the application form via the following link: https://www.patentamt.at/en/forms-1

• Application Form: The application form includes the following information:
  • Name, address, nationality and contact information of the applicant (and representative, if applicable);
  • Title of industrial design;
  • Specifies the products to which the style will be applied (Product Type).
  • International Classification Code for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification).
• Representative image of the style:
  • Drawings, photographs, or other graphic images of the design.
  • These images need to clearly represent all angles of the style (front, back, side, top, bottom, perspective, etc.).
  • A maximum of 7 images can be submitted.
• Priority documentation (if applicable): If a priority claim is from a previous application filed in another country, the applicant will need to submit a certified copy of the previous application.
• Power of attorney (if applicable): If the applicant files through a representative (e.g., attorney or intellectual property representative), the applicant will need to provide a power of attorney that allows them to act on behalf of the applicant.
• Other documents, if any:
  • Copyright claim (if the applicant is not the creator of the design).
  • The transfer document (if the rights to the design have been transferred).

Instructions for filing an application for registration of an industrial design in Austria

Methods of filing an application for registration of an industrial design in Austria

• By online: https://www.patentamt.at/en/designs/apply-for-designs/online-application/
• Filing in person at the Office of Intellectual Property in Austria
• Submit by courier
• By fax +43 (0)1 534 24 535

Benefits of Filing an Online Industrial Design Application

• The application fee is reduced by EUR 5.00;
• The process is faster due to digital transmission and data entry into the workflow of the Austrian Intellectual Property Office.;
• The Design Base data supports the accurate classification of products under the International Classification of Industrial Design under the Locarno Agreement to designate the necessary products for which you are seeking design protection;
• Up to 10 images per design can be uploaded as JPG (up to 4000 x 4000 Pixels). However, only one of these was published in the Design Gazette.

If you need to support the procedure for registering an industrial design, please contact Viet An Law for the fastest guidance!