Trade marks and designs

A design shall be deemed to be an external arrangement of a product or part thereof consisting of features, in particular the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or material of the product itself or of its decoration. Such a design may be entered in the register of designs. A design shall be eligible for protection if it is new and has a distinctive character. The validity of a registered design shall be 5 years from the date of filing of the application. At the request of the holder of a registered design received by the Office, the validity of the design shall be extended up to four times for a maximum of 5 years each time, up to a total period of protection of 25 years from the date of filing of the application.

The design application must contain a completed application for registration of the design in the register, identification of the product in which the design is embodied or on which it is used, a representation of each design for which registration is sought in the application and from which the essence of the design can be clearly discerned, proof of acquisition of the right to the design if the applicant is not the originator of the design (not applicable if the originator created the design in the performance of tasks under an employment relationship or similar employment relationship). The application form (Tlačivo prihlášky) and the information required for filing can be found on the Office's website.

The fee for filing a simple design application by the originator is 20.- €, for applicants other than the originator it is 40.- € For further information please refer to the Administrative fees (Správne poplatky) section.

In the case of a graphic design of a product, protection by design or, in relation to goods and services, by a spatial trade mark is possible, provided the conditions of novelty and distinctive character are met. If it is an artistic work, it is protected by copyright. Copyright does not fall within the competence of the Office. Copyright in a work arises at the moment when the work is expressed in a form perceptible to the senses, irrespective of its form, content, quality, purpose or form of expression. For the creation of copyright, the fulfilment of another (formal) requirement, such as in the case of industrial rights, the filing of an application, the decision to grant protection and registration with the competent authority is not required. Any kind of representation is necessary to fulfil the condition for the creation of copyright, e.g. recording the work on a medium (permanent) with the possibility of proving the date of creation, depositing it with a notary, etc.