Design patent enforcement in Israel is the process of protecting and enforcing the rights of designers/ inventors who have been granted design patent rights. A design patent is a type of intellectual property that protects the ornamental design of a useful article. This means that the design of the article must be both novel and non-obvious in order to be eligible for registration as a design patent.
In Israel, the relevant law for design patent protection was enacted on August 7th 2018. Unlike the old Israeli design patent law, the current law provides long-lasting protection that if renewed, can last up to 25 years! (as opposed to 15 years of protection as it was up until the new Design Law).
This means that others are prohibited from making, using, or selling the patented design without the permission of the inventor. In order to enforce these rights, the inventor must be vigilant in monitoring the market for infringing products.
In general, the new design law benefits designers of all kinds, while adapting the existing law to today's technological changes, in a way that not only updates cosmetic changes but strengthens the protection against theft of works, copying, and counterfeits.
If the inventor discovers that someone is using their patented design without permission, they can take legal action to stop the infringement. This typically involves hiring an Israeli intellectual property attorney and filing a lawsuit against the infringer. In some cases, the infringer may be willing to settle the case out of court, either by paying damages to the inventor or by agreeing to stop using the patented design.
In other cases, the case may need to go to trial. If the inventor is successful in proving their case, the court may issue an injunction to prevent the infringer from continuing to use the patented design as well as award damages to the inventor, which can help to compensate them for any financial losses that they have suffered as a result of the infringement.
How much does it cost to register a design patent in Israel?
The design patent registration in Israel is relatively low cost and very effective. The official fees are between 240 NIS to 450 NIS depending on the legal and financial characteristics of the applicant. Professional fees vary between different intellectual property practitioners, however, you should know that this is a relatively easy straightforward task that costs between 1500 NIS to 4,000 NIS.
Overall, a design patent is a highly effective tool for IP enforcement in Israel. By enforcing their rights, inventors can ensure that they are able to benefit financially from their innovations, and can also help to prevent others from taking advantage of their hard work.
If your product is not a seasonal product and you want to protect it, you should know that as of today China is not a member of the Hague Agreement, with all that implies. If you want to protect a design from being copied and or counterfeited and sold over the Internet, we invite you to contact us. We have the tools to fight and remove infringing products being sold online. Even those sold on Chinese websites.