Participating Offices

National offices

National design offices issue national design rights in their respective countries. Currently the national offices participating in Designview are marked with the green icon displayed in the home page. If the icon is in grey, that means that the designs from that National Office are not available in the application.

BOIP

BOIP (the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property) is the official body for the registration of trade marks and designs in the Benelux.

EUIPO

The EUIPO (the European Union Intellectual Property Office) is the official trade marks and designs registration office of the European Union.

The contents of publicly accessible registers of these national, regional and supranational offices are now available in Designview – common information tool (hereinafter also the application). Currently participating offices are marked with the green icon displayed in the home page. If the icon is in grey, designs from that particular office are not available in the application.

European Union Intellectual Property Office

Language selector

The application interface is available in 23 official languages of the European Union. The language selector is available on every page in the right top corner. The languages in the selector are presented in alphabetical order using the alphabet corresponding to the current interface language.

Quick search

Using
The quick search is based on a single criterion, the indication of the product. The field for entering terms of quick search is not case sensitive.

Using suggested terms
When writing the indication of product an automatic text is displayed as Auto-Complete scroll down menu. The options displayed in AutoComplete are terms by which the previous searches were conducted (history) and suggestions. The suggested terms are the indications of product of EuroLocarno.

EuroLocarno is a list of products based on the Locarno Classification, the international classification for designs prepared under the aegis of WIPO. EuroLocarno has been prepared by the EUIPO for the purposes of classification of the products indicated in registered Community designs as well as in applications for registration of Community designs. Over 11,000 terms are available in all the official languages of the EU.

If the user selects one of the suggested terms of EuroLocarno, the search is performed in registers of all participating offices for the selected term

• in 23 language versions of the selected term in EuroLocarno, and
• in all languages used by the participating offices for the selected term translated by Google Translate online dictionary into those languages.

The search is performed in indications of products/design titles and returns the exact matches of 23 terms of EuroLocarno restricted to the Locarno subclass in which the EuroLocarno term is enlisted. For example: search for Airplanes returns results for designs registered in Locarno subclass 12.05 containing one of the following term language variants:

• bg: Самоле
• cs: Letadla
• da: Flyvemaskiner
• de: Flugzeuge
• el: Αεροπλάνα
• en: Aeroplanes
• es: Aviones
• et: Lennukid
• fi: Lentokoneet
• fr: Avions
• hr: Zrakoplovi
• hu: Repülőgépek
• it: Aeroplani
• lt: Aeroplanai
• lv: Lidmašīnas
• mt: Ajruplani
• nl: Vliegtuigen
• pl: Samoloty
• pt: Aviões
• ro: Aeroplane
• sk: Lietadlá
• sl: Letala
• sv: Flygplan

As both the Locarno and EuroLocarno classifications use plural forms, only matches of indications of products in plural forms can be returned.

The Google translate also returns the exact matches, i.e. plural forms of the selected term from the Auto-complete option. The search based on Google translations is not restricted to a particular Locarno subclass, therefore the search results consist of all designs which have indication of product/design title containing the selected term. If it is needed the search can be limited to a particular class/subclass of Locarno classification in the advanced search mode.

Using not suggested terms
If the user does not choose any of the history or suggested terms and enters its own term of indication of product/design title in quick search, the search is performed in the national register related to the language of the interface primarily and also in all languages of the participating offices employing Google translate dictionary.

There is no restriction to designs registered to a particular Locarno subclass, therefore the search results consist of all designs which have indication of product/design title containing the selected term. If it is needed the search can be limited to a particular class/subclass of Locarno classification in the advanced search mode.

Please, note that the exact match mode is applied so a term in plural returns only designs containing the plural forms of the entered term. A singular form of the term should be considered to be conducted in another separate search.

Please, also note that Google translate works with diacritics. To obtain desired results, please, use terms with diacritic marks.

Advanced search

The advanced search provides the choice of different search criteria which can be used separately or in combination. The relation between the selected search criteria is AND. To learn how to change the default settings see the section Logical operators.

The fields for entering terms of advanced search are not case sensitive.

As not all search criteria are applicable to all registers of the participating offices, the following table provides an overview of criteria available in participating offices. The user is also informed via instant tooltips available on the advanced search page indicated by yellow question marks.

Search criteria by office:

Question marks

In addition to giving access to the help pages, question mark icons available on the left of each search criterion can appear in three different colours:

• Green (by default): Everything is OK.
• Yellow: Hover over the icon to see a warning message informing on availability of a search criterion in a particular office
• Red: Hover over the icon to see the error message.

Search by Offices

Limit the search to one or more offices by ticking the corresponding check boxes in the drop down menu.

Search by Indication of the product

On the contrary to the quick search mode, in the advanced search mode, the auto-complete option is not available. Free text can be typed in the field to perform the search.
There are two options to be selected:

• Strict Mode: only the exact matches are returned
• Contains Mode: right and left extensions are applied

The search is performed in the database related to the language of the interface and in all languages of the participating offices, employing Google translate dictionary.

There is no restriction to designs registered to a particular Locarno subclass, therefore the search results consist of all designs which have indication of product/design title containing the selected term. If it is needed the search can be limited to a particular class/subclass of Locarno classification.

Please, note that if the exact match mode is applied a term in plural returns only designs containing the plural forms of the entered term. A singular form of the term should be considered to be conducted in another separate search, or Contains Mode should be considered.

Please, also note that Google translate works with diacritics. To obtain desired results, use terms with diacritic marks.

Wildcards and jokers can be applied in this field.

Search by Verbal element

Free text can be typed in the field to perform the search.

This field reflects any readable 'word' element contained within at least one of the views of the design, such as letters, words, numerals, keyboard signs, space, or punctuation, appearing in the representation of a design independently of any graphical elaboration or special fonts or styles.

Translations, similarity of meaning, phonetic similarities, figurative equivalence, mental connotations, etc. are NOT taken into account.

Wildcards and jokers can be applied in this field.

Search by Design number

The design number is a string of alphanumeric characters corresponding to the design original registration number plus a four digit appendix where the appendix is the sequence number of a design within the specific registration (example: 000170436-0001, 000170436-0002).

To search for a particular registration, only the registration number without the four digit appendix can be entered in the field. The results will contain all the designs within the registration identified by the sequence number in the appendix.

To search for a particular design within a registration, enter the complete design number including the four digit appendix.

Wildcards and jokers can be applied in this field.

Search by Application number

The application number is a string of alphanumeric characters corresponding to the design original application number. Note that all designs filed in one application have the same application number. The results will display all the designs within the application but only if design numbers have been assigned to the designs (after the registration of the application) they can be displayed. If the application has been published before the registration, all designs are displayed in the list of results without design number. The designs can be identified by their representations (images) and numbering of images in detailed view.

Wildcards and jokers can be applied in this field.

Search by Design status

Design statuses deal with situations which occur during the life of a design from the moment of filing until its expiration. The applicable statuses can be selected from the scroll down menu. For better understanding the following table is provided with an explanation and corresponding status used in previous version of the application.

The previous four statuses shown in the third column of the table will disappear as soon as all participating offices will apply the nine statuses from the first column.

Note: The descriptions of statuses provided in the second column are solely informative. How and which statuses are applied to designs depends on the participating offices and the applicable legislation.

Search by Designer name

This criterion can be used to limit searches to designs of a specific designer, either by entering the whole or a part of their name.

Wildcards and jokers can be applied in this field.

Search by Owner name

There is an Auto-Complete option of previously performed searches. However, the user is able to introduce any text in order to perform the search.

Wildcards and jokers can be applied in this field.

Search by Previous Owner name

Designs can be transferred from one holder to the other. Normally users do not have access to information other than to the last/present holder though the information on previous holder/s is/are stored in the registers. The search by previous owner name provides access to the historical design rights holders.

There is an Auto-Complete option of previously performed searches. However, the user is able to introduce any text in order to perform the search.

Wildcards and jokers can be applied in this field.

Search by Representative's name

This criterion can be used to limit searches to designs of a specific representative of the owner, either by entering the whole or a part of their name.

Wildcards and jokers can be applied in this field.

Search by Locarno class / subclass

Users can select one or all class/es and optionally one or all subclass/es from the scroll down menu.

The option 'All' selects all the classes and subclasses.

The subclasses displayed are related to the class selected previously. The image below shows the subclasses for Locarno class 02 – Articles of Clothing and Haberdashery:

Search by Date

The date criteria can be used to limit searches to a certain time period. There are several options provided:

• No dates specified: all designs searched
• From date specified: all designs from the applicable date to present day
• To date specified: all designs up to and including the applicable date
• From and to dates specified: all designs between the applicable dates inclusive

The following searches by date are possible:
Expiry date: The date of expected expiration of the term of protection of a design if not renewed.

Filing date: The date when the application for the registration of a design was filed and the filing date was granted.

Registration date: The date on which the design was registered.

Publication Date: The date on which the design was made available to the public:

• by publishing the application for registration
• by publishing the registration of the design. Where the publication of the registered design is deferred upon a request of the applicant, and the office announces registration by publishing a limited set of information on the design registration, during the deferment period, the date of publication of the limited set of information is provided. Upon the end of deferment, the date of full publication of design is provided.

Priority date: The date of first filing or first exhibition of a design where the applicant claimed priority according to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, or priority claimed from disclosure of the design on an exhibition recognized by a participating office.

Effective date: The date since the protection of a design starts.

End of deferment: the date when the deferment of publication of a registered design supposes to come to the end. It can be

• given date specified by the applicant, or
• calculated date as the maximum period of deferment allowed by the applicable legislation.

Rules for date field

The date format allowed in Designview application is: DD-MM-YYYY, e.g. 15-11-2013.
A single date or a range of dates in writing or by selecting them from calendars accessible by two calendar icons next to the date fields can be entered.



To enter dates ranges in the expert search, the format is shown below.

Search by Convention Priority number

The user is able to type in alphanumeric characters corresponding to the convention priority number. This criterion can be used to limit searches to designs of a specific convention priority number, either by entering the whole or a part of their number.

Wildcards and jokers may be used to complete this number.

Search by Priority country

A dropdown menu with the countries is shown and one or more countries can be selected.
By default, the option “All” is selected. To clear the selected countries, the button 'Clear' in Advanced Search must be clicked.

Search by Exhibition Priority

The user is able to type in alphanumeric characters corresponding to the name of an exhibition recognized for the purpose of granting the priority by a participating office. This criterion can be used to limit searches to designs of a specific exhibition priority name, either by entering the whole or a part of the name.

Wildcards and jokers may be used to complete this field.

Sort results by

Sort the list of search results according to any preferred column before searching by selecting the column from the list in the drop down menu.

Order results

The search results may be listed either in Ascending or Descending order according to the selected preference.

Wildcards and jokers

The wildcards ('*') and jokers ('?') may be used in the following fields: Verbal Element, Design Number, Application Number, Owner Name, Previous Owner Name, Designer Name, Representative Name, Convention Priority Number, Exhibition Priority

• The asterisk (*) substitutes zero or more characters, examples:

'abc*' will search any text starting with the 'abc'

'*abc' will search for any text ending in 'abc'

'*abc*' will search for any text with 'abc' occurring anywhere

• The question mark (?) substitutes only one character, example:

'abc?e' will search for any text with that pattern, e.g. 'abcae', 'abcbe', etc.

Expert Search

It is possible to use all search criteria of advanced search in the field for quick search This way, it is possible to use the quick search field as a shortcut to perform an advanced search by using the codes related to any search criteria or to modify the advanced search according to specific needs of the user.

Example: To search by national office AND design status, use the following search string:

TIP: The codes are automatically entered in the search field in advanced search mode. Configure a search by selection of the desired search criteria in the advanced search (the codes and search terms appear in the search field, including the syntax of the codes). Then switch from the advanced search to quick search and manually edit the search string, in particular by modifying the logical operators (AND to OR or AND NOT). Please note that by default the logical operator is 'AND'.

The codes and examples of search terms in brackets:

• oc: National Office Code (ES, PT, EM...)
• ipvalue: Indication of the product (table)
• ve: Verbal element (Barcelona)
• did: Design number (002270983-0003)
• sc: Design status (type Lapsed or select from scroll down menu)
• anm: Owner name (type LG Electronics or select from Auto-Complete list of previously searched owners)
• dnm: Designer name (Dolce)
• rnm: Representative name (Simmons)
• lc: locarno classification and sub-classification (type 10.01 or select from scroll down menu)
• prion: Convention priority number (2013-010275)
• pctry: Priority country (JP or select from scroll down menu)
• expn: Exhibition priority (Shanghai)

Please note that the dates are easier to introduce by using the calendar options provided with the different date criteria.

Logical operators

The following logical operators can be used:

AND: Forces the result set to satisfy both operands criteria.
Example: To search for designs containing the word 'Aeroplanes' in their indication of product and which are classified in Locarno class 12, use the following search string:

OR: Combines the result set returned by the operands criteria (note that AND takes priority over the OR operator).

Example: To search for designs containing the word 'Aeroplanes' in their indication of product and which are classified in Locarno class 12 or designs containing the word 'Aeroplanes' in their indication of product and which are classified in Locarno class 21, use the following search string:

AND NOT: Forces the result set to satisfy the first operand criterion but not the second.
To search for designs containing the word 'Eggs' in their indication of product but not the word 'boxes', use the following search string:

To search for designs containing the word 'Aeroplanes' in their indication of product and which are classified in the Locarno class 21 but not in the class 12, use the following search string:

Warning: with the exception of AND, the use of other logical operators is only possible in the quick search field and is not compatible with the advanced search. The default operator in advanced search between the search criteria is AND.

Search status

Search status icons for the offices

Next to each office different icons can appear:

• means that the search was successful; the number of results retrieved per office appears in brackets (150 or less results)
• means that the search was successful; the number of results retrieved per office appears in brackets. Initially 150 results per office are displayed in the list of results. If more than 150 results were retrieved in the search, the brackets contain the information (150 out of xxxx) where xxxx stands for the total number of retrieved designs per office. It is possible to extend the number of the designs displayed in the list of results to 450 per office by clicking on the numbers in the brackets.

• means that the search criterion/a is/are not available for the corresponding office.
• means that there is a kind of error or communication problem with the corresponding office.

Filtering the results displayed per country

The user has the possibility to filter the results displayed by country or countries. The user can add or remove the results for the selected countries by clicking on the icon or icons of the countries displayed in the monitor. In this image the results from the Spanish Office have been removed.

Select the default display

The user has the possibility to change the display of the information:

• the list of results by clicking on the icon indicated by the green arrow, or
• the gallery of images (thumbnails of the designs) by clicking on the icon indicated by the red arrow:

The list of results:

The gallery mode:

List of results

The list of results presents the following information for each design and has the default configuration for the first display:

1. Thumbnail of Design (1st image / best view): The user can hover over the image to be magnified and click on the image to open a new window with an enlarged image, navigation through the design representations (views of design) and basic bibliographic information.
2. Locarno class/subclass: The user can hover over the classification code to see the title of the particular Locarno class/subclass.
3. Indication of the product: The user can click on the text to open a new tab with detailed information of the design (Design details).
4. Design number: The user can click on the number to open a new tab with detailed information of the design (Design details).
5. Owner name
6. Filing date
7. Design status
8. Design Office: The user can click on country code of the corresponding design office to open a new window of the office home page.

These eight elements are the ones displayed in the list of results in default order from left to right.

Configure the list of results

The information displayed in the list of results is configurable. As part of the list of results there are the following options:

Sorting the list of search results

To change the sort order of the list of search results, click on a column heading to sort the particular column in ascending or descending order.

Changing the order of columns

The order of the columns may be changed by dragging the column heading to the desired place.

View / Hide columns

Click the View/Hide columns button in order to select which columns should be shown: a checklist with all the columns is displayed in the list of results.

Reset columns

Click Reset columns button in order to apply the default values.

Select the maximum number of results displayed per page

The number has to be selected from a pre-defined list. Default is 10 designs per page.

Remember column

Click the Remember columns button in order to remember the current (or last one used during the session) layout of the list of results: it is useful when the users have chosen the information they want to see, the order of display of this information (drag & drop of the columns) and the number of results per page.

Reload grid

The user has the possibility to reload grid by clicking on the icon displayed below in order to return to the initial configuration/view of the list of results.

Filter columns

The user has the possibility to use a filter for each column by clicking on the icon displayed below:

This filter allows users to search in the table content (applied to the whole table content, not only the part visible in one page of the paging system). An example of filter by owner name “cal” follows:

Expand the graphic representation

The user has the possibility to see an enlarged view of the graphic representation of a design (thumbnail) in the list of results by hovering the mouse over the thumbnail

Print list of results

The users has the possibility to print the entire list of results displayed in the page selected, or select some of designs by ticking them in the check box on the left.

If the user clicks on the 'printer' icon with the green arrow, the designs selected will be opened in a new popup window. By default in the new window for each design selected the following fields will be showed in order to be printed:

• Design number
• Design Office
• Indication of product
• Classification
• Owner name
• Filing date
• Priority date
• Registration date
• Publication date
• Status
• First/best view of the design thumbnail size

At the top of this new window the whole list of design fields is show. The user can add or remove the fields to be printed by clicking on the check box next to each design name field. The minimal information identifying the design cannot be deselected: design number, design office, indication of product. Where indication of the product is in more than one language available, only the indication of the product in the language of the interface is displayed. For Greek and Bulgarian designs indication of product is displayed in both – original language and English or transcription to Latin alphabet where the information is available.

Where indication of the product is in more than one language available, only the indication of the product in the language of the interface is displayed. For Greek and Bulgarian designs indication of product is displayed in both – original language and English or transcription to Latin alphabet where the information is available.

The accompanying list of search criteria is also printed at the top of the print out.

Design details

Design

Section with the design details.

Design details in a new window

By clicking on the design thumbnail in the list of results or in the gallery mode a new window with enlarged image and basing bibliographic information is open. The navigator allows browsing among the representations (views) of the design.

Representation (views of Design)

Section with the different views of the design.

View image in full scale

The user can click on the left mouse button over the image displayed on the right of the Representation section. A new tab is opened containing the image in full scale.

The views of a design keep numbering of the original registration.

Indication of the product and classification

Section with the classification and indication of the product. The verbal element, where applicable, appears in this section.

Owner

Section with the Owner details.

Previous Owners

Section with the Previous Owners details.

Representative

Section with the Representative details.

Designer

Section with the Designer details.

Exhibition priority

Section with the Exhibition priority details.

Convention priority

Section with the Convention priority details.

Publications

Information about the publications related with the design.

Recordals

Information about the recordals related with the design.

Renewals

Information about the Expiry Date, Status of Renewal, and Renewal Instance (i.e. how many times the RCD has been renewed) can be provided.

Viewing the details of a design in the office of origin

See details of the design in the office of origin's own register by clicking on the office logo in the detailed results page:

Collapse / expand the sections

The user can individually collapse or expand each section. The user can also collapse or expand all the sections at once. The sections greyed out cannot be expanded.

Go back to the first section from any section

From any section, the user can easily go back to the first section (at the top of the page) by clicking in the icon with the red arrow:

Add to my favourites

The user can add a specific design to 'My Favourites' by clicking on the icon as displayed below:

Invite a friend

The user can send the details of a design to a friend - with an editable personalised message by clicking in the icon displayed below:

Download details

The user can download the details of the design which is currently viewed. Select the format provided: Excel (excel icon) or PDF (PDF icon).

Print design details

The user can print a specific design by clicking on the print icon as displayed below:

Create alerts

Log in & register

To use Alerts, it is required to register and log in first. Please also note when registered and/or log in after carrying out a search, Designview resets and any search previously done is lost.

How to register

In order to register, type in the email address and a password, and click the Register button.

How to log in

To log in, type in the email address and password, and click the Login button.

Forgot password?

To regain a lost password, click the Log in| Register button and click on Forgot password link as shown in the image below:

Type in the email address and click Apply.

Change password

To change password, click the Log in| Register button and click on Change password link as shown in the image below:

Type in your email address, the old password and the new password, and click Apply.

Configure your alerts

When registered and logged in, tick icon in the left column for the designs to be updated.

Three different alerts may be established:

• 1. Receive an alert on name change: Tick this check box to be informed when there is a change of the applicant/owner of the design.
• 2. Receive an alert on status change: Tick this check box to be updated on any change of status for the selected design.
• 3. Receive an alert when the expiry date is close to the end: Tick this check box to be warned when the expiry date for the selected design is about to expire. Subsequently, indicate how many days before the expiry date you want to be notified.

In the drop down menu Alert duration in months, select for how many months one or more of the above-mentioned alerts should be active.

Under Subject, type in the subject of the alert emails to be received for the selected designs.

Confirm the alert by clicking the Validate alert configuration button. The selected designs and configured alerts will appear in the View alerts tab.

View alerts

To view the list of designs for which an alert has been created, click the View alerts tab.

To edit an alert for a design, click the Edit alert button in the Actions column. Check or uncheck the boxes in the Active column to modify the alert.

Subsequently click the Apply changes button now appearing in the Actions column to save the changes.

To delete an alert for a design, click the Delete button in the Actions column.