A design patent according to design patent protection law comprises the appearance (design) of an entire product or parts thereof, resulting, among other factors, from the characteristics of the lines, outlines, colors, appearance and texture. In principle, the creator of the design or his legal successor has the right to claim the design patent. The design protection grants to its holder the exclusive right to use the design and prohibit a third party to do so without his approval.

The filed design patent will be examined for legality. Novelty, individual character, determination by its technical function, violation of prior rights and the legitimation to the applicant’s claim to the design patent are not examined in the filing process. Absence of one of these requirements can result in invalidity of the design patent claim.

A design patent is deemed to be new, if no identical design has been made available to the public before the date of filing of the application, or, if a priority is claimed, before the date of priority. Design patents are deemed to be identical, if their features differ only in immaterial details.

A design patent shall be considered to have individual character if the overall impression which it produces on the informed user differs from the overall impression produced on such a user by any design which has been made available to the public. In assessing that individual character, the degree of freedom of the designer in developing the design must be taken into consideration.

Acts, that would, in principle, infringe novelty status, i.e. printed publications or exhibitions, do not harm novelty status during examination process in a possible invalidation procedure, if they occurred within a timeframe of 12 months before priority date and were committed by the creator of the design or his legal successor.