Bulgarian Industrial Design

BULGARIAN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Industrial design registration in Bulgaria procedure and costs - KTpatent.com

The exclusive right in an industrial design in Bulgaria shall be acquired through its registration with the Bulgarian Patent Office (BPO).

A Bulgarian industrial design shall be registered if it is new and has an individual character. Its legal scope of protection shall be defined by the graphic representations of the registered design.

What a Bulgarian industrial design is, as stipulated by the Bulgarian Industrial Design Law, is the visible outer appearance of a product or part of it determined by the peculiarities of the form, the lines, the depiction, the ornaments, the colour blend or a combination thereof. Additionally, the definition of a product, again as prescribed by the law, is any article obtained in industrial or craft way, including parts designated for assembly in a composite article, sets or composition of articles, packing, graphic symbols and printed fonts except software.

The registrability criteria of BG design are novelty and originality.

Bulgarian industrial design’s novelty is considered on a global level. Therefore, BG industrial design is considered new if before the date of filing the BG design application, respectively before the date of priority, another identical design is not known to have become accessible through publications, registrations or announcement in any other way wherever in the world. The designs shall be considered identical if their peculiarities differ only in insignificant elements.

The other criteria for registration, namely originality, is considered to be present if the overall impression the BG design creates for the informed user differs from the overall impression created by a design that has become publicly accessible before the date of filing of the application for BG design registration, or when a priority is claimed before the date of priority.

The industrial design is always registered with respect to the products where it is included or to which the design has been applied.

WHAT RIGHTS ARE ATTESTED TO THE OWNER OF A REGISTERED BULGARIAN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN?

The right to a Bulgarian Industrial Design Registration has the person or entity that firstly filed the application for Bulgarian (BG) Design Registration with BPO.

The right acquired to the owner of the registered BG design is an exclusive right to use it and to prevent any unauthorized use by others in the course of trade. Practically, the use in the course of trade that could be prevented may encompass: the production, the offering and the exhibiting on the market or the use of a product in which is included or to which has been attached design of the scope of protection as well as import, export or preservation of the same product for these purposes.

The legal scope of protection shall be determined by the image, respectively the images of the registered design and shall cover every design that does not produce on the informed user a different overall impression.

WHO CAN FILE APPLICATION FOR A BULGARIAN (BG) INDUSTRIAL DESIGN REGISTRATION?

Application for a Bulgarian Industrial Design Registration can be filed by its author or his legal successor in title, which may be Bulgarian natural persons and legal entities and any foreign person or entity from countries which are party to international treaties to which the Republic of Bulgaria is also party, i.e. countries party to the Paris Convention(PC) or the World Trade Organization (WTO), etc. However, applicants with no permanent address or principle place of business in the Republic of Bulgaria are required to act in the proceedings before the Bulgarian Patent Office through a registered and qualified Bulgarian Design Attorney. Although, Bulgarian applicants are not obliged to be represented, they are strongly advised to appoint an experienced and qualified Bulgarian Design Attorney who can conduct the filing and prosecution of the application Bulgarian Design Registration in the most professional, legally binding and efficient way.

TERM AND TERRITORY OF PROTECTION?

The validity of Bulgarian design registration is 10 years from the filing date of the BG design application. The registration may be renewed for 3 consecutive periods of 5 years, maximum 25 years as from the filing date, provided the design renewal fees are duly paid withing the prescribed periods.

The registered BG design is valid for the territory of Bulgaria only. However, it could be additionally protected via alternative routes for registration in Europe or worldwide through applications for Registration of Community Industrial Design (RCD) filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and/or application for Registration of International Industrial Design with WIPO respectively.

How do you apply for a BG design registration?

Applications for Registration of Bulgarian Industrial Design shall be filed with the Bulgarian Patent Office directly, by post, by facsimile or electronic means. Multiple designs may be protected with single application under certain requirements. The procedure is relatively fast and cost-effective as outlined below, but it also contains many pitfalls.

The protection conferred by the registered national Bulgarian Industrial Design is the same as if the protection was obtained by already registered Community Industrial Design (RCD). The same applies if the Bulgarian design was registered via International Industrial Design. The advantages of filing a direct application for Bulgarian design with the Bulgarian Patent Office are that the procedure, prosecution and costs are less complex and expensive compared to the European or International route with EUIPO and WIPO respectively and the applicants can deal with BPO in Bulgarian language.

SUMMARY OF THE PROCEDURE AND COSTS FOR THE REGISTRATION OF A BULGARIAN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN:

* REMARKS: 1) This is an approximate time scale calculated as from the filing date; 2) Attorney fees are not included and all official fees are tentative

Filing of application for Bulgarian Industrial Design Registration

0 WEEKS

The application for BG design registration consists of: a request for the registration of a Bulgarian industrial design; the name and address of the design applicant; representations of the design which can be represented in the form of black and white line drawings, images or photographs, but maximum 7 different views; an indication of the type of products to which the design will be applied. The Official fees due at the filing stage amount to about 60 EUR and cover 1 design only. A surcharge of about 20 EUR is also levied for each design in excess of 1 in case of filing a multiple application for BG design registration belonging to the same products and classes. Applicants for design registrations also have the option for deferment of the publication of the registration up to 30 months from the filing date, priority date, in order to keep the design secret from the competitors. If such request for deferment of the publication has been made, addition fees of about 30 EUR must be paid for applications containing 1 design only, and for each subsequent design in multiple application additional fee of about 15 EUR is also levied by BPO.

Examination of Filing, Formal and Substantive Requirements

1-2 MONTHS

The requirements for according a filing date are assessed during this stage.Additionally, certain formal and substantive aspects of the Bulgarian design application are examined, including the form and content of the design application, payment of the design filing fees; the appointment of a Bulgarian Design Attorney; check whether the declared design is consider to be design under the law and is not excluded from protection; the images of the design are also carefully examined. During this stage the examiners can object against some deficiencies like the quality of the images. These deficiencies might slightly prolong the procedure. However, no search is made of the prior art to determine whether the substantive criterion of novelty or originality is satisfied by the design for which registration is sought. Generally speaking, the burden of assessing novelty and originality is shifted to those interested persons in the market who may wish to use, or who may have used, the design or a substantially similar design. Any person interested in using such a design will have the opportunity of bringing proceedings for the cancellation of the registration which it is alleged as invalid.

Registration and issuance of BG design Registration Certificate

1-3 MONTHS

If no deficiencies are found or raised in the previous step, the BG design application for registration is considered allowable. Subsequently, a decision for the registration is taken provided the official fees for registration are paid which amount to about 135 EUR and cover 1 image of the design only, and a surcharge of about 16 EUR is also levied for each additional image. The Bulgarian Industrial Design is then registered, published as registered and entered in the design registers of the Bulgarian Patent Office. The BG design owner is then issued a BG design registration certificate. The design owner acquires protection for a period of 10 years calculated as of the date of filing.

Request for publication if deferred

27 MONTHS

The applicant for a design may request, when filing the application, that the publication of the design, if registered, be deferred for a period of 30 months from the date of filing of the application or from the date of priority in order to keep it secret from competitors. Provided such request has been filed together with the BG design application,a request for publication of the design registration shall be filed by the holder of the design before the 27th month from the filing date of the application and shall be accompanied by proof for payment of fees for publication.

Bulgarian Design Monitoring and Enforcement

WITHIN 10 YEARS

The Bulgarian Design Registration is not an end in itself. BG design owner must be his own policemen and safeguards his exclusive rights because they are not automatically applied to infringers. The market use and/or attempts for registrations of identical or confusingly similar design by your competitors must constantly be monitored and subsequently enforced in order to avoid financial loss and/or harming your reputation. In other words, you are responsible for monitoring the use of your design in the marketplace, identifying any imitators or counterfeiters and deciding whether, how and when to take action against them.The design monitoring and enforcement protect the time and money you have invested in building your business image on the market.

BG Design Renewals

10 YEARS FROM FILING DATE

The provisional validity obtained from the Bulgarian design registration is 10 years from the filing date of the BG design application. The registration may be renewed for 3 consecutive periods of 5 years, maximum 25 years as from the filing date, provided the design renewal fees are duly paid before expiration of each subsequent 5 year period. The costs for Bulgarian Design Renewal amount to about 140 EUR for first renewal; about 190 EUR for second renewal and about 260 EUR for third renewal. Missing the deadline for design renewals can be remedied within 6 months following the term of expiry and by paying a surcharge. Missing this period will have the effect that the registration of Bulgarian Industrial Design has expired, thus the legal protection terminated and anyone may use it in Bulgaria without infringing any rights outstanding.

BG Design expires

25 YEARS

After expiry of the design, the subject matter of the design is then available for commercial exploitation by anyone.

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Bulgarian Industrial Design