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Monitor your exclusive right

As the owner or holder of a design right you are responsible for making sure that nobody infringes your exclusive right. This monitoring is important in order to keep the exclusive right valid.

We do not monitor the use of registered designs

The PRH is a registering authority and does not monitor the use of registered designs. We cannot answer any questions about infringements, design right disputes, the import or advertising of products, or any other judicial questions.

Keep track of new design registrations

One good way of monitoring your rights is to keep track of your competitors and their design right applications and registrations. You can do this by using our database, which is available free of charge, or by buying monitoring services for example from a design right agency. Go to our Design Database.Open link in a new tab

Monitoring new design registrations and filing oppositions is especially important with EU Community designs, since the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) does not, on its own initiative, count even an identical design as an obstacle to a later application.

If you spot a pending design that resembles your design, you can consider lodging an opposition against this design after it has been registered and published in the Design Gazette. Go to the Design Gazette.Open link in a new tab

Read more about how to file an opposition with the PRH.

What to do if you discover an infringement of your exclusive right

If you discover that someone is infringing your design right by using an identical or almost similar design, you as the design right owner can take action over the infringement. You can send the infringer a prohibition letter where you tell about your own right and demand that they stop the infringement.

If you cannot settle the case through negotiations, you can take it to the Finnish Market Court.

If you are involved in a dispute, it may be worth consulting design right experts.
See a list of authorised attorneys in the Register of Attorneys in FinnishOpen link in a new tab or in SwedishOpen link in a new tab.

Printable version Latest update 16.08.2022