Designs are distinct intellectual property rights applied to products visual design or appearance. Designs make products attractive to consumers and are valuable business assets providing competitive advantages.
In November 2024, Saudi Arabia hosted the Diplomatic Conference to Conclude and Adopt a Design Law Treaty. On 22 November 2024, the WIPO member states approved the 28th WIPO Treaty - the Riyadh Design Law Treaty.
The Design Law Treaty aims to facilitate design protection by streamlining and simplifying procedures and help designers, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises obtain domestic and foreign design registrations in a cost-efficient manner.
The headline changes are laid out in the table below.
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Current Design Law Legislation |
New Design Law Treaty |
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Divergent national design legislation and requirements |
The new Treaty clearly defines the requirements and elements of a design application |
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Physical filings in some jurisdictions |
Introduction of an electronic filing system |
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Certified priority applications must be obtained and submitted for each subsequently filed application. |
Electronic exchange of priority documents |
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Grace period for the disclosure of industrial designs not available in many national design laws |
12-month grace period being introduced |
In addition to those changes above:
- Applicants may be able to keep designs unpublished for at least six months after securing a filing date;
- Filing of divisional applications when the original application contains more than one industrial design;
- Relief measures to avoid loss of rights; and finally
- The term of protection is unified to at least 15 years from either the filing date, or the date of grant or registration.
The next stage for the Treaty is ratification which requires 15 contracting parties for it to enter into force.
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.
