Industrial design registration in Spain

Industrial design registration in Spain

Registration of industrial designs in Spain – Every company that owns an industrial design and intends to expand its business in the market in Spain should use Spain’s intellectual property system. It is paramount for companies to file an industrial design application in Spain for industrial designs, even if the launch of the respective product on the market in Spain has not yet commenced. 

Requirements for industrial design registration application in Spain 

An industrial design application can be filed claiming priority within six months after the priority date. The restoration of this term is not possible.

Spanish is the official language when registering an industrial design at the Spain Intellectual Property Office. It’s not possible to file the design registration application in other languages.

The following information and documents need to be provided in the application for registration of an industrial design in Spain: 

  • name, address, and nationality of the applicant, business address; 
  • class number according to the Locarno Classification;
  • title of the design;
  • application number, date, and country of priority (if any);
  • drawing of the design;
  • design description;
  • confirmation of the applicable fee.

If priority is requested, a certified copy of the priority document should be translated into Spanish and submitted to the IP office within 3 months from the filing date in Spain. 

In Spain, a non-legalized Power of Attorney is necessary. It must be filed concurrently with filing or within a month of receiving notice of the office action seeking submission of POA (an additional fee may be charged).

Examination of an industrial design application in Spain

 An industrial design registration application in Spain will only undergo the formal examination process. The substantive examination process is not stipulated for the design registration procedure in Spain.

Validity period and renewal of industrial designs in Spain 

Regarding the exhibition priority of industrial design applications, it is applicable if the author discloses information about the industrial design at the official exhibition of Spain or any other member-state of the Paris Convention six months before the application was filed.
A Spanish industrial design patent is valid for five years from the date of filing and may be extended for further five-year terms, up to a total of 25 years. Requests for renewal must be made prior to the current five-year term’s end.
Represented by an industrial design registration attorney 

An international applicant for an industrial design registration in Spain should perform an industrial design search in Spain through a law firm, or an industrial design attorney.