- General Provisions
- Registration authorities, etc.
- Application, registration, etc.
- Term of protection and renewal
- appeal
- Transfer, licences, etc.
- Punishment, sanctions etc.
- Miscellaneous provisions
Legislative Texts
Official Journal A, No. 48/1993
Table of Contents
page
SECTION I General Provisions ...............................................................................
1 SECTION II Registration authorities, etc....................................................................
4 SECTION III Application, registration, etc. .................................................................
4 SECTION IV Term of protection and renewal............................................................. 6 SECTION V Declaration of invalidity and the right of appeal....................................... 6 SECTION VI Transfer, licences, etc........................................................................... 7 SECTION VII Punishment, sanctions etc. .................................................................... 8 SECTION VIII Miscellaneous provisions....................................................................... 9
THE PRESIDENT OF ICELAND hereby proclaims: The Icelandic Parliament, the Altering, has adopted this Act and I have confirmed it with my consent:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Act, the word “design” shall mean the two– and three–dimensional appearance or composition of a product or its decoration. The Act does not extend to design where there is only one possible choice for the appearance or composition of a product because of technical characteristics of the product.
A designer or his successor in title is entitled according to the Act to acquire exclusive rights to a design which will be commercially exploited.
Article 2
Only designs which are distinctive shall be protected under this Act. A design is considered distinctive if it has not, before the date of reference referred to in Article 6, been made accessible to knowledgeable persons in the field concerned and, from the users’ point of view, its overall impression differs significantly from designs with which they are already familiar.
Article 3
A design shall not be protected: Legislative Texts
Article 4
Protection of a design may be obtained in two ways: Article 5
Registered protection of a design confers on its proprietor the exclusive right to produce, use for commercial purposes, place on the market, offer for sale or rental, export, import or stock a product which, from the users’ point of view, has an overall impression identical or similar to that of the registered design.
Unregistered protection of a design prohibits the production, commercial use, placing on the market, offering for sale or rental, importing, exporting or stocking of direct copies of the design without the authorization of the proprietor.
Article 6
The date of reference for registered protection of a design shall be the date of filing in Iceland, subject to the fourth paragraph of Article 19.
The date of reference for unregistered protection of a design shall be the date it was first made accessible to the public.
Article 7
Where a person applying for protection of a design in Iceland has, at any time during the six month period prior to the date of filing, applied for protection for the same design with reference to the law concerning protection of designs or law concerning utility models in a country which is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the application shall be considered to have been made at the same time as the previous application, provided that the applicant submits such request. Anyone who has applied for protection of a design in a State which is not a member of the Paris Convention is entitled to the same right if the State concerned recognizes the corresponding priority claim of an application made in Iceland and its law concerning protection of a design or protection of utility models is generally in accordance with the Convention.
Article 8
A design may be considered to possess a distinctive character, as referred to in Article 2, even though it may have been made public within a 12 month period prior to the filing date (period of grace), provided this was the result of action taken by: Article 9
The right to protection of a design shall belong to the designer or his successor in title.
Where two or more persons have jointly developed a design, the right to protection of the design shall belong to them jointly.
If two or more persons have developed designs, independently of each other, which are similar or of the same type, and each of which complies with the requirements of Article 2: Where the right of priority is claimed, as referred to in Article 7, the date of reference, in assessing the right to registered protection, shall be the relevant date of priority, subject to subparagraph b of the third paragraph of this Article.
Legislative Texts
Article 10
A case may arise where a third party has already made commercial use of the same or a similar design in Iceland for which another has obtained registered protection. He shall then be entitled to continue to exploit the design in the same manner provided that such use was in good faith and that his exploitation had begun prior to the filing of the application. The same applies to anyone who, in the same circumstances, had made extensive provision for the commercial exploitation of the design in Iceland.
Entitlement under the preceding paragraph shall be considered an integral part of the business concerned and cannot be transferred separately.
Article 11
If the right to protection of a design has been applied for by, or has been awarded to, a person, and another person considers himself to be entitled to protection of the design under Article 9, the latter may submit a claim to a court to have the registration transferred to his name. Where a person is jointly entitled to protection of a design he may claim to be registered as joint holder.
Legal proceedings under the preceding paragraph may be instituted within a period of two years from the date of publication of the registration in publication of the Registration Authorities, as provided for in the fifth paragraph of Article 13. This time limit shall not apply if the holder of the registered design knew that he was not legally entitled to protection of the design when it was registered by or transferred to him.
The institution of legal proceedings under the second paragraph and the final decision shall be entered in the Register of Designs as provided for in the third paragraph of Article 13.
Where, as the result of a judgment pursuant to the first paragraph, the registered protection of a design is transferred, all licences and other rights are cancelled upon the registration of the new proprietor. Transfer of ownership shall be entered in the Register of Designs.
If the registered proprietor of protection of a design or a licensee has exploited the design or made provision thereto prior to the institution of legal proceedings under the first paragraph, the person concerned is entitled to continue his exploitation provided he applies to the new registered proprietor for a general licence within two months’ time. Such licence shall be issued for a reasonable length of time under reasonable conditions.
The provisions of the fifth paragraph shall not apply if the registered proprietor or licensee exploited the design or made preparations for its exploitation in bad faith.
Article 12
If a product which makes use of a protected design is placed on the market by the proprietor or with his consent, he may not take action to prevent its use, sale, rental, importation, exportation or distribution by other means.
Article 13
All matters covered by this Act fall under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Industry.
The National Patent Office is responsible for the implementation of the Act. The term “registration authorities” refers to this Office unless otherwise provided for.
The National Patent Office shall keep a Register of Designs which shall include the registered protection of designs for the entire country. The Register shall be accessible to the public.
The Minister of Industry shall appoint a Committee of Appeal to deal with questions concerning design protection. The Committee shall issue a ruling in cases referred to it regarding decisions by the registration authorities. Further provisions regarding the Committee shall be issued in a regulation.
Registrations and notifications provided for by this Act shall be published in the publication by the National Patent Office.
Legislative Texts
Article 14
Written application for protection of a design shall be submitted to the National Patent Office. An application shall be accompanied by graphic or photographic reproduction of the design which shows clearly the design for which protection is sought.
An application shall include the name of the designer. If the applicant is not the designer he shall prove his right to the design.
An applicant shall pay the prescribed application fee.
An application may include a brief description of the design. The registration authorities may also request that such a description be submitted. The description does not affect the scope of protection.
A model of the design may be submitted. Where this has been done the model submitted shall be authoritative regarding the appearance or composition of the design.
Detailed provisions regarding the contents and presentation of applications shall be issued in a regulation.
Article 15
A proprietor of design protection, who is not a resident of Iceland, shall appoint an agent resident in Iceland to represent him in all matters concerning application and registration.
The name and address of an agent shall be entered in the Register of Designs.
Article 16
The registration authorities shall classify the designs as provided for in the Annex to the Locarno Agreement which was originally concluded on 8 October 1968. Such classification shall not affect the scope of protection.
Article 17
Several designs which form a set may be combined in a single application. Each individual design in a set must belong to the same under classification under the Locarno Agreement as referred to in Article 16. Detailed provisions regarding multiple registration shall be issued in a regulation.
Article 18
A search may be required to determine whether a certain design is identical or similar to another design registered in Iceland or for which an application has been made and is accessible to the public.
If a search is demanded, as referred to in the preceding paragraph, at the time of filing of an application the registration authorities shall carry out the search with as much expedience as possible and inform the applicant of the result. Should the condition referred to in the preceding paragraph apply, the application shall be refused. An application shall not, however, be eliminated until the applicant has been given the opportunity, within a limited period of time, of expressing his comments regarding the refusal.
The prescribed fee shall be paid for a search under this Article.
Article 19
The registration authorities shall examine: If the registration authorities consider that an application does not satisfy the requirements under sub– paragraph a of the first paragraph it shall be refused. A design shall not be eradicated from the Register of
Legislative Texts
Designs, however, before the applicant has been given the opportunity, within a limited period of time, of expressing his comments regarding the decision of the registration authorities.
If an application is not deemed to comply with the requirements of sub–paragraph b of the first paragraph, the applicant shall be notified thereof and given the opportunity to express his comments or correct the application within the prescribed time limit. If an applicant fails to submit his comments or to take the measures required to correct the application within the prescribed time limit it shall be eliminated.
If an applicant, following indications in accordance with the third paragraph, makes corrections which the registration authorities consider as altering the substance of the application, the date of reference of the application shall be the date on which the amendments were received by the National Patent Office.
Article 20
If an application complies with the prescribed regulations, the design which it covers shall be registered and the applicant sent a confirmation thereof.
Registration of protection of a design shall be published in a special publication by the registration authorities.
Article 21
An application for protection of a design shall always be accessible to the public after six months have elapsed from the date of filing, or priority date where priority is claimed.
After the registration of a design the application shall be accessible to the public.
At the request of an applicant, registration may be postponed for up to six months from the date of filing, or priority date where priority is claimed.
Article 22
A design which complies with the requirements of Article 2, shall enjoy protection without registration for a period of two years from the date of reference, as provided for in the second paragraph of Article 6, if it has been made public as the result of action taken by the designer or his successor in title. The same applies if the design was made public by a third party making use of information provided by the designer or information resulting from his actions.
Effective upon registration, any protection enjoyed by the same person for the same type of or a similar design is cancelled.
If registered protection of a design is subsequently cancelled or declared invalid, the unregistered protection does not come into force once more.
Article 23
Registered protection of a design shall last for a period of five years from the date of filing of the application, subject to the fourth paragraph of Article 19. Registration may be renewed for periods of five years each up to a total term of protection of 25 years.
Article 24
An application for renewal, together with the prescribed fee, shall be submitted to the registration authorities no earlier than three months before the period of registration ends and at the latest six months after its conclusion.
If an application for renewal is not received by the registration authorities during the period referred to in the preceding paragraph the registration shall be eradicated from the Register of Designs.
Legislative Texts
Notification of the fact that the registration has been eradicated shall be published in the publication of the registration authorities.
Article 25
Design Protection Act
SECTION I General Provisions
SECTION II Registration authorities, etc.
SECTION III Application, registration, etc.
SECTION IV Term of protection and renewal
SECTION V Declaration of invalidity and the right of appeal