Kosovo is not a member of WIPO and is not party to the Hague Agreement. Design protection in Kosovo requires a standalone national filing before the Agency for Industrial Property in Pristina.

We handle national design filings in all six jurisdictions independently of whether the client has used the Hague System for the other five markets.

What industrial design protects

Industrial design protection covers the external appearance of a product — its shape, lines, colours, texture, material or ornamentation. This applies across consumer products, packaging, fashion accessories, furniture, electronics, automotive components, medical equipment and graphic elements including icons and user interface components. Laws across the region expressly include graphic symbols and typographic forms within the definition of a protectable design.

Demand in the region is highest in the consumer products, packaging and fashion sectors.

A trademark protects a sign in its function of distinguishing goods and services - a word, logo or combination - in relation to specified goods and services. An industrial design protects the external appearance of a product or its packaging as such, independently of its distinguishing function.

The same product can carry both forms of protection: a trademark for the logo on the packaging, and a design registration for the shape of the packaging itself. The key practical difference is duration - trademark registrations are renewable indefinitely, while design protection runs for a maximum of 25 years in all six jurisdictions.

We represent design owners in enforcement proceedings across all six jurisdictions. Available measures include interim injunctions, actions for declaration and cessation of infringement, seizure and destruction of infringing products, damages and inspectorate proceedings where available. Proceedings relating to design infringement are treated as urgent under the laws of all six jurisdictions.