GENERAL

Designs – shapes of articles in two or three dimensions are protectable in Israel under the (very old) Patents and Designs Ordinance.

Designs are registered in the Israeli Designs Register. The Register is maintained by the Israeli Patents Authority, which is a government agency in charge of the registration of patents, trademarks, designs and appellations of origin. The Patents Authority is headed by the Registrar of Patents, Trademarks and Designs. The Patents Authority's offices are located in Jerusalem.

  
ELIGIBILITY

Registrable designs are shapes in two or three dimensions of any article, provided that the shapes have "eye appeal", are new or original, and are not "merely functional".

If the object or product in question has been offered for sale, marketed, distributed, advertised in a newspaper or catalog or presented in a trade show in Israel prior to the date of filing the design application, it is not considered new or original.

Until December 2008, new design applications were examined only against prior, locally-filed, design applications.
 
Effective December 2008 any design published in a publicly-accessible internet website (located anywhere) will be regarded as prior art published in Israel.
 
In practice, Israeli examiners now search for prior art in the websites of other patent offices around the world (specifically, OHIM, USPTO and WIPO).

  
APPLICATION

To obtain registration of a design, the applicant must submit an application with the prescribed fee.

A design application must conform to the conditions for registrability of designs set forth in the Patents and Designs Ordinance and in the Designs Regulations. The application can only cover one single object, unless it is a "set", i.e. a group of objects that are normally sold together (for example: cutlery, chess pieces, etc.).

  
EXAMINATION

The examination of a design application starts within three months of the filing of the application. It is possible to request a rush examination. A petition for rush examination must be supported by an affidavit proving that there are special circumstances to justify a rush examination, e.g. imminent counterfeits.

The examination includes a search of the Designs Register, in order to reveal if there are similar designs already registered in the Register, and whether the application complies with regulations. The Patents Authority may issue Office actions.

The examination must be concluded within 12 months from the date of the first Official action. It is possible to request a single, three-month extension of the initial 12-month examination period, subject to a fee. If the examination is not completed within 12 months, or the extended 15 months, then the application is refused.

  
REGISTRATION AND PUBLICATION

At the end of the examination, the application is refused or allowed. If allowed, the Patents Authority sends the applicant a registration certificate and publishes the registration of the design in the Official Gazette.

The publication includes the name of the owner of the registered design, the name of the design, its international classification, the date of filing and registration number.

The shape of the design itself is not published in the Official Gazette. It remains confidential for a period of two years following its registration. During that period, it will not be disclosed to third parties (unless a reasoned petition to inspect the file is filed and granted by the Registrar) and will not come up in a Register search.

A registered design is valid for an initial period of five years from the date of application. It can then be extended twice, for periods of five years each, subject to a fee. Thus, the maximum protection period afforded by to a registered design is 15 years in total.

   
RIGHTS

The owner of a registered design has exclusive rights to use and commercialize the shape of the object protected by the design.

CANCELLATION

It is impossible to oppose a design application during its examinations period. However, anyone can file a petition for the cancellation of a registered design, on the ground that it was published in Israel before the application date.