It is critical to keep your industrial design private if you want to protect it under the registration system. The reason is that the design must be “new” to be protected. If you share your creative design to others, it is essential to have a signed contract declaring that the design is confidential. The design will become community ownership and cannot be protected without a “grace period” according to the current rules,
Grace period.
In some countries, the law permits a limitation of six to twelve months from the day the design is made public, shown, or published for registration. Before submitting the request, products presenting the design may be sold, shown, exhibited, or displayed at trade fairs, or the design can appear in catalogs, brochures, advertising programs, etc. During that time, you can continue promoting your design without losing its “newness” and you can carry on registering for the design. However, this “grace period” does not exist in all countries and is limited in some cases. but it is better to keep your design confidential until you submit your proposal. In addition, during the grace period, you won’t have privilege on industrial design. However, depending on the related national laws, your design may be protected by copyright or unfair competition laws.
Display the design at an exhibition or fair before applying for protection.
According to a country’s industrial design laws which is without “grace period”, special exceptions may be made in the case of exhibitions or fairs, where permission is granted to authorize designs that have been exhibited at a “official international exhibition” (which is why the design is known) until 6 months before submitting for protection without losing “newness” or “originality”. However, this might be a risky due to the limited number of “official international exhibitions”. It is best to submit a application before presenting your design at any exhibition or fair.
