Registration abroad

If you want to register your design outside Finland, you have three options to choose from:

• Community design covering the whole of the EU and registered at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
• international registration under the Geneva Act (1999) of the Hague Agreement in about 50 member countries
• national registrations separately in each individual country.
  

We recommend that you consult a design right agency if you are applying for registration abroad.

Which system should I use?

The system you should use depends on the case. The crucial question is which countries you need the protection in.

If you want to protect your design in some or several EU countries, choose the EU Community design. If you want to protect the design in countries like the USA and Japan, it may be wisest to use the international registration under the Geneva Act.

To get extensive protection for your design, you need to use both the Community design system and the Geneva Act system or all three systems.

What does it cost?

The costs vary according to the number of countries in which you apply for registration and the number of designs and illustrations included in your application.

See the fees for registrations covering the EU on the EUIPO websiteOpen link in a new tab.

You can calculate the fees for international registrations under the Geneva Act by using the calculatorOpen link in a new tab on the website of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).