Businesses can protect their designs by registering them
throughout the EU as from today. A fee of €230 buys exclusive
rights to use the design for five years, renewable for up to 25
years, together with protection throughout the EU against both
deliberate and inadvertent copying.
While the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(OHIM), based in Alicante, will register community designs only
from today, 1st April, it has been accepting applications from
designers and businesses throughout the EU since January.
Germany is leading the world in the number of applications, with
over 60 so far. It is followed by the UK, Spain, Italy, the
Netherlands and then the US, according to figures reported by Legal
Media Group.
