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Designs
According to the European Union's Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, a design is the "outward appearance of a product or a part of it, which results from the lines, contours, colour, shape, texture, materials and its ornamentation".
The European Patent Office deals only with patent applications and does not register designs.
You can register a design with European Union's Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market to obtain protection directly enforceable in all EU member states. Read more about the Community Design . Unregistered designs are however also protected in the EU. Read more at: http://oami.europa.eu/en/design/faq/faq08.htm .
Individual member states offer national design protection and Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have a common system of protection for designs in the Benelux. See:
- a list of links to the national patent offices
- The Benelux Office for Intellectual Property
The Hague system of international registrations of industrial designs is applicable in nearly 50 countries party to the Hague Agreement. It is administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland. Read more about the Hague System .