Patenting in Belarus
Industrial design patent. How to apply?
An artistic or design solution for an item (article) identifying its appearance and being new and original is recognized as an industrial design that is granted legal protection. An industrial or handicraft product is considered as an item.
An application for a patent of the Republic of Belarus for an industrial design is filed with the National Center of Intellectual Property.
An application for an industrial design has to concern one or a group of industrial designs belonging to the same class of the International Classification of Industrial Designs (the Locarno Classification).
An application must contain:
- a request for the grant of a patent, the author (coauthors) of an industrial design, a person (persons) in favor of whom a patent is sought and their place of residence or place of business being indicated;
- set of images giving a full detailed idea about the appearance of the product, its aesthetic features, particularly about its shape and configuration, ornament and colour scheme.
An application is accompanied with the following documents:
- an acknowledgment of payment of the patent fee or patent fee relief, or an acknowledgment of partial payment together with the confirmation of the grounds for fee reduction;
- a power of attorney if it is filed with a patent attorney.
Examination of an application for an industrial design doesn’t concern the compliance of the claimed industrial design with the conditions of patentability (novelty and originality).
The term of a design patent is 10 years from the filing date. At the request of the patent holder this term may be extended for no longer than 5 years.
The application materials must be drawn up in compliance with the following normative legal acts:
- the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Patents for Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs”;
- the Regulations on the Provision on Application Drafting Procedure for Industrial Design Patents, Examination and Decision Making Thereof;
- Resolution of the State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus of July 5, 2018 No 15 “On Establishment of Forms of Documents for Industrial Design Patents”.
You can get advice on drafting an application:
- at consulting points of the Training Center of Intellectual Property;
- with patent attorneys of the Republic of Belarus.
