LIECHTENSTEIN
Industrial Designs Regulations
promulgated by the law of June 15, 1964
ENTRY INTO FORCE: June 25, 1965
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Application for Registration
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
Article 5
Article 6
Article 7
Article 8
Article 9
Article 10
Article 11
Article 12
II. Alterations
Article 13
III. Registration
Article 14
Article 15
Article 16
Article 17
Article 18
Article 19
Article 20
Article 21
Article 22
Article 23
Article 24
Article 25
Article 26
IV. Miscellaneous
Article 27
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Article 28
Article 29
Article 30
Article 31
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I. Application for Registration
Article 1
The author of new industrial designs and models or his legal successors
who wish to secure exclusive rights to the use of same must submit the
following files and objects to the Liechtenstein intellectual property
office (referred to hereinafter as the “Office”):
1.anapplicationwithabordereauonaprinted,officialform,induplicate;
2. one sample each of the designs and models in question;
3. the fee for the first period of protection as laid down in the regulations;
4. in the case of a representative who is a third party domiciled in
Liechtenstein, a power of attorney granted by the registering party and
provided with his signature;
5. in an instance when the registration is not requested in favour of
the author, a declaration concerning legal succession;
6. for designs and models which are to be published in the form of
illustrations (Article 4), two letterpress blocks each.
Article 2
1) Applications for registration must be drawn up in the German language;
the applicants must use for this purpose printed forms which they or their
representatives can obtain free of charge from the Office.
2) Each design or model must be provided with its reference number (the
same number as entered in the applicant’s business records). The designs
and models must be entered on the bordereau in consecutive sequence. In
the case of consecutive numbers, only the lower and the highest numbers
of the string of numbers is to be given, with the word “up to” or an equivalent
sign.
3) All documents relating to a registration must be signed; those which
are not originals drawn up in the German language must be accompanied
by their certified translations into the language of the application.
Declarations concerning legal successors must be either provided with
the author’s verified signature or prepared by a competent authority or
a notary public.
4) Applications for a registration from abroad must be handed in through
a third party who is a person domiciled in Liechtenstein and authorized
by the applicants to represent them.
Article 3
1) Designs or models must be registered either in the form of industrial
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products for which they are intended or in another form adequately
representing them (e.g. a drawing or a photograph).
2) No explanatory notes may accompany either the designs or the models.
3) Letterpress blocks of those designs and models which are to be published
in illustrations must represent them faithfully. The blocks must be at
least 15 mm high and no wider than 80 mm; they must be sent without a
frame.
Article 4
1) Design and model protection extends over a maximum time of 15 years.
This period is calculated in five-year periods, the first of which commences
with the registration date, followed by the next ones uninterrupted.
2) Designs and models can be lodged for the first period of protection
either open or as a secret (in an open or a sealed envelope).
3) Designs of an embroidery must also remain lodged as secrets during
the second and third period of protection.
4) Models relating to pocket watches which are not exclusively decorations
are excluded from filing as secrets. They must be published in illustrated
form.
Article 5
1) Designs or models can be registered individually or in blocks.
2) They must be submitted to the Office in strong packing; if they are
sentbypost,theenvelopecontainingthemmustbeenclosedwithinawrapping
with the address of the Office inscribed on it.
3) Envelopes of secret registrations must be provided with the inscription
“Secret” or “Sealed” [“Geheim” or “Versiegelt”] and must be actually sealed
or secured against unauthorized opening in some other way. The Office
itself is authorized to rectify such deficiencies.
4) The contents of parcels must be arranged in accordance with the
information contained on the bordereau.
5) Parcels must not weigh more than 10 kg and not be larger than 40 cm
in any of the three main directions; if the nature of the object allows
it, the parcel must be in one of the following basic shapes and the depth
must not be out of proportion:
15 by 20 or 20 by 30 or 30 by 40 cm.
6) The number of designs or models allowed within one parcel is only limited
by the maximum weight and dimensions indicated above.
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7) Individual designs or individual models weighing more than 10 kg or
the envelope of which exceeds 40 cm in one of the main directions, will
not be accepted or will only be accepted after special terms are agreed
with regard to the payment of storage fees. The decision on this matter
made by the Office is final.
Article 6
1) One and the same registration must not include designs and models at
the same time. Similarly, a registration concerning embroidery must not
contain any other designs and a registration relating to pocket watch
models must not contain any other models.
2) It must be stated in the application whether the registration concerns
designs or models; their quantity must be stated; the products for which
the designs or models are intended must also be correctly stated.
Article 7
The fees for the registration of designs and models are stipulated by
special ordinance.
Article 8
1) Applications for renewing the period of protection for a registration
or a part of same must be submitted to the Office in writing together
with receipt for payment of a fee.
2) It must also contain the official number of the registration and, if
the renewal is not applied for the complete contents of a parcel, it must
contain the numbers, clearly written, of the designs or models to be
protected, and must be worded unambiguously.
3) The Office is not under obligation to accept an application for extending
protection for the next period before the end of the preceding period
if the registration during that period is secret.
4) In the case of a representative handling these matters, the application
for renewal must be submitted by the representative.
Article 9
1) A waiver of protection for a registration or a part of same intended
to be introduced within a period of protection must be submitted to the
Office in writing.
2) Such a notification must state the official number of the registration;
if the waiver concerns only a part of the registration, the numbers of
the designs or models concerned must also be stated in clear writing.
3) In the case of a representative handling these matters, the waiver
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must be submitted by the representative.
Article 10
An application for changing the registration of a trade mark which is
secret into an open one must be submitted to the Office in writing together
with evidence of the fee having been paid; if these matters are handled
by a representative, this must be done by him.
Article 11
1) The Office shall regard the date of posting as the date of receipt
for all internal postal items addressed to the Office.
2) This date shall be determined either by means of a written certificate
of the posting date given to the sender for registered items on request
or from the date stamped by the post office on all postal items which
arrive without a written certificate indicating the date of posting.
3) If the time is not visible on the postmark of the post office from
which it was sent, the item shall be regarded as sent at 8 p.m., of the
day indicated by the date stamp even if it was in fact received earlier
by the post office.
4) If the fee is paid by transfer or cash to the postal account of the
cash office of the Land, the fee shall be regarded as paid on the date
shown as the posting date on the transfer of payment slip issued by the
postal cheque office through which the transfer or payment was made. If
no such slip is available, the payment date shall be regarded as the date
on the date stamp from the above-mentioned postal cheque office; the
stipulations of Para. 3 apply accordingly.
5) If, in an exceptional case, a postal cheque is sent direct to the cash
office of the Land, the date of receipt shall be the date on which it
is posted to the cash office of the Land.
Article 12
1) In calculating a fixed period, the day on which the event starting
the fixed period occurs is not included.
2) When a fixed period is stipulated by ordinance, its
dispatch/communication shall be regarded as an event within the meaning
of Para. 1.; the despatch date shall be deemed to be the date of the order,
unless proven otherwise.
3) If the last day of a fixed period is a Saturday or a Sunday or any
other day on which the Office is closed or a day which is a recognized
national holiday at the Liechtenstein place of residence of the applicant
or his representative, the fixed period shall end on the following working
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day.
4) In a leap-year, the 29th February is regarded as the 28th of February
and the 29th of February as the 28th in normal years. If a fixed period
calculated in months ends in normal years on the 28th of February, it
shall end in a leap-year on the 29th.
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II. Alterations
Article 13
1) The right of the registering party passes to its heirs and can be wholly
or partly assigned to third parties. The right by which other persons
are authorized to use designs and models can also form the subject of
granting licences.
2) Alterations relating to the ownership and enjoyment of this right are
only effective vis-a-vis bona fide third parties when they are entered
in the designs and models register.
3) Applications for registering alterations to ownership and enjoyment
of this right must be submitted to the Office. Such an application must
be accompanied by an authentic declaration on a permanent registration.
This document must be either provided with an authenticated signature
of the registering party, or be prepared by a competent authority or a
notary public.
4) Alterations relating to the person of a representative must be
communicated in writing to the Office if the latter is to take account
of them.
5) A fee must be paid in advance for each entry changing the rights in
a design or model registration. If a registration application is rejected,
part of the registration fee shall be forfeited to the State. The entry
shall be published.
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III. Registration
Article 14
1) Applications for registration shall be accepted when the requests comply
with the conditions stated in Para. 1 to 3 and Paragraphs 4, 5 or 6 of
Article 1 are also fulfilled, if necessary.
2) Those requests which fail to meet the requirements of the various
stipulations contained in Articles 2 to 7 or contain objects or illustrated
representations which are not designs or models within the meaning of
the Law or which contravene the stipulations contained in other national
Laws or State treaties or which are of an offensive character shall be
rejected. Any requests, which cannot be sorted out because of their
character shall be rejected forthwith while those which can be sorted
out shall only be rejected if objections concerning deficiencies sent
by the Office are not responded to at all or are responded to inadequately
within a reasonable time allowed. The periods of grace for supplementing
inadequate information must not extend beyond the fourth month from the
date on which the registration application is submitted.
3) These stipulations must also be appropriately applied when changing
secret registrations into open ones, particularly when a secret
registration filed before 1 August 1956 contains designs for cotton
printing or for silk and half-silk cloth printing (provided it is not
Jacquard cloth). No alterations of substance may be introduced to the
registered objects on this occasion; replacing them by others is not allowed
either.
4) According to the stipulations in Article 8, applications for extending
protection must be submitted within three months from the end of the
preceding period of protection. In the case of complaints concerning
registrations following removal of a seal from an envelope on such an
occasion, the regulation period of grace must not extend into the fourth
month and, in the case of restoration (Article 11 of the Law), not into
the seventh month of the new period of protection.
5) In the case of complaints concerning registrations and relating to
the removal of envelope seals in conjunction with applications made as
in Article 10, the regulation period is one month.
6) If a registration is rejected, the fee paid for the first period of
protection shall be forfeited.
7) If a registration application or a registration or an application for
renewal of protection is rejected due to the lapse of a regulatory time
limit prescribed only by an administrative order or by the Office, the
rejection can be cancelled on the following condition:
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Within one month from the date on which rejection is notified,
a) the action which should have been attended to during the period of
omission must be made good;
b) a restoration fee must be paid to the Office.
Article 15
1) The registration date is, as a rule, the day and time on which the
registration application is received. If temporary return of designs and
models is ordered, the registration date must be put forward to the date
and time when they are again received.
2) If a declaration documenting legal succession of the registering party
is received during the period between receipt of the registration
application and its registration at the Office, this will move the
registration date forward by an appropriate length of time. Declarations
of this nature received by the Office after the registration has been
registered are subject to the payment of a fee which must be enclosed
in the registration file (Article 18), clearly marked with the registration
date. The relevant facts must also be entered in the register.
Article 16
Entries and publications related to the registration shall be worded in
the German language.
Article 17
1) The Office keeps a register containing the following details:
1. reference number of the registration;
2. date of registration (day and time);
3. the amount paid by way of fee for the various periods of protection
and the date of payment;
4. the date on which the registration certificate was issued;
5. the date of the first registration abroad, if any, or that on which
the respective production was admitted to a Liechtenstein or an
international exhibition;
6. date of publication;
7. name of the registering party and his place of residence;
8. representative’s name and his place of residence, if applicable;
9. the subject of the registration (whether designs or models);
10. the products for which the designs or models are intended;
11. the type of registration (open or secret), possibly the date of sealing,
if applicable;
12. renewal of protection;
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13. alterations notified in accordance with Article 13;
14. legally valid decisions on forfeiture and invalidation (on demand
from the successful party);
15. cancellation.
2) Entering the numbers of the registered designs or models and the numbers
of those for which protection has been waived (Article 9) or of those
for which protection has been extended is not obligatory; if this is not
done, the relevant details available in the registration file (Article
18) must be regarded just the same as an integral part of the registration
entries.
3) An alphabetical name index of the registering party giving the ordinal
numbers of their registration is updated on a day-to-day basis.
Article 18
A special file marked with the appropriate ordinal number must be opened
for each registration.
Article 19
1) Once a registration has been entered, the Office certifies the act
of registration by stamping, signing and entering the date and time of
the registration.
2) Extracts from the register shall be sent to the proprietors as proof
of protection having been extended.
Article 20
1) Registrations are published by the Office. This publication contains
the following details: Subject and type of registration, description of
the products for which the designs and models are intended, date and ordinal
number of the registration, name and place of domicile of the registering
parties and any of their representatives.
2) Furthermore, models relating to pocket watches which are not exclusively
concerning decorations are published in illustrated form.
3) All protection renewals, seal removals required according to Article
10 and alterations to the ownership and enjoyment of the right of the
registering parties, mentioned in Article 13, shall also be published.
Cancellation of a registration due to the fees for extending the period
of protection not having been paid within due time shall be published
only at the end of the period of grace allowed for reinstatement if no
action is taken in the interim (Article 11, Para. 2 of the Law).
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Article 21
1) If no application for extending protection is received at the end of
the first or the second period of protection, the Office shall send to
the proprietor of the registration in question, or through the mediation
of a representative as the case may be, a reminder with a note that he
shall lose his rights unless the fee (Article 7) is paid within three
months from the date of expiry.
2) The registration shall expire on account of non-payment of the fee
within the above time even if the issue of such a reminder were to be
overlooked by the Office or if the proprietor were not to receive it at
all or not in time.
3) If the payment of the fee is not forthcoming, the Office shall register
cancellation and inform the proprietor accordingly.
Article 22
1) To restore a forfeited registration due to late payment of the fee
for continued protection of the cancelled registration, a reinstatement
fee is payable to the Office, in addition to the protection renewal fee
which is due.
2) The restoration time limit is deemed as being kept to only when the
full amount of the protection renewal fee and of the restoration fee is
paid to the Office within that time limit.
Article 23
1) The Office shall subsequently affix seals to sealed envelopes which
were temporarily opened following a request from the proprietor of a given
registration or on the strength of a judicial order. While seals are
temporarily removed, such envelopes are regarded as sealed to third parties.
Seals shall not be removed from sealed envelopes of cancelled registrations
by virtue of the Office.
2) Sealed envelopes, the full or part contents of which are to have their
protection extended, shall have their seal removed only when the fee for
the following period of protection, and also the restoration fee, if
necessary, have been paid. Seals shall then not be removed from envelopes
containing embroidery designs either. When protection is to be extended
only to a part of the contents of a registration filed in a sealed envelope,
the envelope is regarded as not unsealed in respect of the remaining part
of its contents.
3) If the opening of a sealed envelope reveals irregularities concerning
those designs or models, the protection of which, or of some of them,
is to be extended, proceed as in Article 14.
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Article 24
1) The proprietor of a registration can waive its protection at any time.
2) If protection for a registration has lapsed, its designs or models
can be withdrawn at any time. Designs or models which are not withdrawn
shall be kept by the Office for three years from the date on which protection
ceases; the registration shall subsequently be sent back to its proprietor
or his representative; in special cases, the Office can dispose of it
in other ways with the Government’s approval.
Article 25
1) Any person who can prove a legitimate interest can obtain verbal
information from the Office on the contents of the designs and models
register and the files. Open designs and models registered can also be
inspected in the presence of an official. A fee is payable for such services.
2) A fee is payable for written information, particularly when such
registers have to be searched to produce it; such a fee depends on the
time needed to produce the required information.
3) A fee is also payable for register extracts and authentication of file
documents.
Article 26
Authorities which, for the purpose of exercising their judicial functions,
require files or registrations to be sent to them, must assert in their
appropriate request the capacity in which they act, and take responsibility
for returning them in good order.
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IV. Miscellaneous
Article 27
1) With the approval of the Government, the latter can break his connections
toprofessionalrepresentativeswhosemannerofhandlingmattersvis-a-vis
the Office gives rise to serious complaints, by not accepting any new
registrations from them.
2) As a rule, first interruption of connections lasts one month and, if
repeated, for a longer time, possibly for ever.
3) Disciplinary measures taken against the representative are recorded
by the Office, stating the grounds and are published in Liechtenstein
publications without explaining the reasons.
Article 28
The Office is authorized to correspond on the subject of the designs and
models lodged and their registration.
Article 29
Letters and other items sent to the Office must be provided with the correct
postage.
Article 30
Stipulations of this enforcement decree does not apply to industrial
registrations of industrial designs or models.
Article 31
This enforcement decree comes into force on the date of its publication.
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