Changes in renewal of design registrations

The revision of the Registered Designs Act brought along such amendment to the stipulations concerning renewal of registrations that the registration of a design can now be renewed by merely paying the renewal fee and additional fees, if any.

The National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland does not send any certificate of the renewal to the holder of the right or his representative. The information concerning the renewal is displayed in the Mallinet (at: http://www.prh.fi/fi/mallioikeudet/mallinetti.html) immediately after the entry of the information into the database of the Design Rights Unit.

However, renewal must always be sought in the customary manner in writing if the right holder at the same time wishes to make an amendment to the information contained in the Register of Designs. Even if he does not want to change the information in the Register, he is entitled to file a customary written renewal application. If he does so, he is given a certificate of renewal of the registration.

Because in some cases it has not been clear whether a letter concerning a renewal submitted to the National Board of Patents and Registration is meant to be a so-called renewal by payment or a customary renewal application, the National Board of Patents and Registration suggests that the following procedure should be followed in the future:

Registration can be renewed by payment of the renewal fee and additional fees, if any, without any letter. The payment shall naturally contain a clear indication of the registration it relates to. However, if the right holder wishes to attach a letter to the payment, he shall provide it with a heading that eliminates all risks of confusion (for example “renewal by payment”).

If the letter submitted is not furnished with a heading as described above, the Office will assume that it is a customary renewal application, which is given an application number (U number) and in respect of which a traditional certificate of renewal is issued in due course after the renewal. The National Board of Patents and Registration recommends that the official renewal application form is used in these cases. It can be downloaded for instance from the homepage of the Design Rights Unit.

Further information:
Tapio Priia (Mr)
Head of Division
Phone +358 9 6939 5530

Changes in renewal of design registrations

Shortcuts

Send link