On 20 July 1998 the first certificate of industrial design was granted in the Republic of Estonia. The first certificate is numbered as 208, continuing the numeration of the Register that was discontinued in 1940.
In Estonia legal protection shall be granted to industrial designs that are novels, have an individual character and enable to manufacture products of industry or of handicraft. But it should be noted that the Patent Office does not examine the conformity of the industrial design with the said requirements.
All the industrial designs entered in the Register are published in The Estonian Industrial Design Gazette, the official publication of the Patent Office, and to contest the registration any interested person may lodge an appeal at the Administrative Court.
The first number of The Estonian Industrial Design Gazette was published on 17 August 1998 and it will be published four times in a year.
Under the new Design Law which entered into force only on 11 January 1998 there are about 120 applications filed in Estonia by today. About 70% of these are by foreign applicants.
But all foreign applicants and their patent attorneys should be reminded that it is high time to take advantage of the so-called long priority which is available for design applications filed in Estonia now before 11 January 1999.
Namely, the transitional provision of the Design Law prescribes that where the registration application is filed within twelve months from the entry into force of the Design Law, each priority shall be recognized upon registration of industrial design on the basis of the first registration application filed on 20 February 1991 and later in a state member to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
