Japón

Finlandia

Dibujos y modelos industriales

4. In your country, the first duration of protection available is less than ten years, and any renewal thereafter cannot be requested at the time of registration. It may happen, therefore, that the duration of protection is less than ten years when the first duration has lapsed and the restoration is not permitted afterwards. Would this not be contrary to the spirit of paragraph 3 of Article 26 of the TRIPS Agreement?

The Finnish Registered Designs Act provides for the protection for five years from the date of application of registration. The registration may be renewed for two additional five-year periods. Consequently, the maximum term of protection is 15 years. The request for renewal may be made a year before the termination of the registration as well as until six months after the termination. The renewal process is very simple. The registration authority controls that the renewal fee and other possible fees have been paid and makes the necessary indications to the register (concerning the renewal, owner of the design or the attorney), after which the renewal decision is filed to the owner of the design. No novelty examination is done during the renewal process.