Trade marks and designs

In order to obtain registration of a design in the Register, it is necessary to file a duly completed design application with the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic, which may be filed by a natural or legal person.

Your design application should contain:

1. Application for registration of the design.
2. The name of the design - the chosen name of the design must be concise, compact and must express a general indication of the type of product (table, pen, block) in accordance with the nomenclature of the relevant class or subclass of the International Classification for Designs. The use of manufacturing, trade and similar names and the use of abbreviations consisting of letters and numerals are incorrect because they do not tell what the product represents, i.e. what kind of product it is and what its purpose is.
3. Information of the applicant - the applicant is the one who files the application and, if the design is registered, becomes the owner of the design. The applicant may be a natural or legal person. The names of legal persons shall be given together with their full business name.
4. Representative of the applicant. In proceedings before the Office in respect of an application for a design, the Office shall negotiate with the applicant or, if the applicant appoints a representative, with his representative. If the applicant is established in the Slovak Republic, the question of representation is a matter of the applicant's will (the reason for not being represented may be that the applicant does not feel sufficiently qualified to process the application or that he/she will not be reachable at his/her address for a long period of time). If the applicant is domiciled abroad, he must be represented by a patent agent or a lawyer, whereas the mandatory representation does not apply to parties from a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Such parties shall be obliged to notify the Office of their address for service in the territory of the Slovak Republic. If a representative is appointed to act before the Office, a valid power of attorney must be attached to the application. The power of attorney must contain the name and full address of the principal, his signature and the extent of the principal's authority. Where the applicant has appointed a representative by a general power of attorney, the original of which is deposited with the Office, the number of the general power of attorney assigned by the Office must be indicated on the application form. The names of legal persons shall be given in full in the application form. The representative of the party to the proceedings shall notify the Office of the address for service in the territory of the Slovak Republic.
5. Type of application. A design application may be filed as a single application, i.e. registration is sought for one design only, or as a multiple application, i.e. registration of two or more designs may be sought in the application at the same time (as a multiple application), provided that they all belong to the same class of the international classification of designs. You will also submit a list of designs with the multiple application.
6. Originator. The originator is the natural person who has created the subject-matter of the design by his or her own creative activity. Details of the originator or originators must be given. The design application must state who the originator of the design is. The exception is where the originator has waived the right to be named in the application. In such a case, the applicant must submit a written declaration to that effect.
7. Representations of the design from which the substance of the design can be clearly discerned and which are suitable for further reproduction.
8. List of annexes. List the annexes which are attached to the application form at the time of filing.Photographs or other representations - The representations must show only the appearance of the product - the design for which protection is sought, in so many views that all the characteristic features of the appearance of the product are apparent. Each copy of the representation of the design must comply with the conditions of reproduction and printing. If the applicant submits coloured representations of the design, the design in a particular colour shall be the subject of protection of the registered design. The representation of the design must be numbered. The numbering shall, according to the international standard, consist of two numbers separated by a dot. The dot is preceded by the serial number of the design in the application (it must correspond to the list of designs contained in the application) and followed by the serial number of the view of the design (example of the numbering of representations of a second design in five views: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5). 
   Product designation: The purpose of the product designation is to ensure that, in relation to the subject matter of each design, it is clearly understood for what purpose, or consumer use or function, the product in which the design is embodied or on which it is applied is intended, in logical conformity with the chosen title of the application and the classification of the design. The designation shall take the form of a short text.
   Description - The purpose of the description, if provided (it is not mandatory), is to explain the representation, if any (to facilitate orientation in the representations of the various designs or views of them).
   List of designs contained in the multiple application - This is a list of the names of the individual designs contained in the multiple application, corresponding to the numbering of the accompanying illustrations. The purpose of the list is to provide orientation to the individual designs contained in the multiple application.
9. Classification. Designs shall be classified in classes and subclasses according to the current version of the International Classification for Designs. Only designs which belong to one class of the International Classification of Designs may be included in a multiple application.When preparing the application, use the DesignClass search tool to obtain the product designation and design classification through the application at: https://euipo.europa.eu/designclass/, which is one of the conditions for inclusion in the accelerated procedure (zrýchleného konania).
10. Right of priority under an international treaty. The right of priority arising from the Paris Agreement for the protection of industrial property, if the applicant has acquired it and wishes to exercise it, must have already been exercised in the filing and must prove this right within 3 months of filing, otherwise it will not be taken into account.
11. Postponement of publication of the design after its registration. If you apply for a deferment of the publication of the design in the register, you must indicate the date on which the design is to be published. The deferral must not exceed 30 months from the date of filing of the application or the date of priority.
12. Corporate design. If the originator creates the design in fulfilment of an employment task, it is a corporate design. If the applicant is not also the originator or the design is not an enterprise design, the applicant must provide proof of acquisition of the right to file the design application.
13. Signature of the applicant or his legal representative. An unsigned application is deemed not to have been filed (because the application does not contain a valid expression of the applicant's intention) and does not confer a right of priority from the filing of the application. 

You can file your design application (it is recommended to use the form - Application,Žiadosť) in paper form, either in person at the Office's Registry in Banská Bystrica or by post, or preferably in electronic form via the Office's electronic services*.

The Offices electronic services (Elektronické služby úradu) are available through two systems:

• Portál elektronických služieb (PES ÚPV SR)
• Ústredný portál verejnej správy (ÚPVS)

* for electronic submissions it is possible to apply a fee discount pursuant to § 6 of Act No. 145/1995 Coll. on Administrative Fees, as amended

If the formal filing requirements are met, the Office shall grant a filing date to the design application and the applicant shall be entitled to priority. You will then receive a confirmation of filing together with a request to pay the application fee, which must be paid within 15 days of receipt of the request to pay.

The Office will examine the design application, i.e. check whether the subject-matter of the application meets the conditions required by law.

The formal examination shall ascertain whether:

• the conditions for the grant of priority are fulfilled;
• the application contains a representation of each design for which registration is sought in the application and whether the substance of the design can be clearly discerned from it;
• the application contains a name of the design which corresponds to the intended use of the product in which the design is embodied or on which it is used, whether the application contains a designation of the product in which the design is embodied or on which it is used;
• in the case of a multiple application, list the designs for which registration is sought in the multiple application and, if the application contains a description, ascertain whether it is admissible;
• the application shall contain the identification details of the applicant and the originator or a declaration by the applicant that the originator of the design waives the right to be named in the application;
• the application shall contain evidence of the acquisition of the right in the design if the applicant is not the originator of the design and if the right in the design has not been transferred to him;the application shall contain a power of attorney if the applicant is represented.

The substantive examination shall ascertain whether:

• the positive conditions for registration of the design are fulfilled;
• the conditions for the ineligibility of the design for registration on grounds of its being contrary to public policy or to good morals are not fulfilled;
• there is no conflict between a design with an earlier right of priority and an identical registered design with an earlier right of priority.

If, in the course of the examination, formal or substantive deficiencies in the application are found, the Office shall invite you to remedy them or, in the case of substantive deficiencies, to oppose them and give you the opportunity to comment on them. If you fail to do so, your application will be discontinued or refused.

Your design will be entered in the Register if the Office finds, on the basis of the formal and substantive examination carried out, that the design meets all the statutory requirements for registration. The registration of the design will be published in the Bulletin of the Office and you will become the owner of the design. The Office will issue you with a certificate of registration.

If, during the proceedings, you have requested a deferment of publication of the registered design not exceeding 30 months from the date of filing of the application or from the priority date, the Office will publish the design only after the expiry of the requested period.

As the owner of the design, you have the exclusive right to use the design, to grant consent to use the design to other persons or to transfer the design to them, or to create a lien on the design.

The scope of protection resulting from the design is determined by the representations of the design. The design shall be valid for 5 years from the date of filing of the design application. The term of validity of a design registration may be extended at the request of the owner of the design up to four times, each time for a further 5 years for a total term of 25 years. The effects of the design shall take effect from the date of registration of the design in the Register.