Speed of design examination and availability of deferral

Resolution of the Executive Committee, Naples, Italy
13 and 16 October 2025

“Speed of design examination and availability of deferral”

FICPI, the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys, broadly representative of the free profession throughout the world, assembled at its Executive Committee at the World Congress held in Naples, Italy, 13 to 17 October 2025, passed the following resolution:

NOTING that the design rights are an important intellectual property right to protect innovative designs for commercial products and ensures that designers are incentivised to continue to create products embodying new designs;

FURTHER NOTING that applicants for design rights need a uniform and consistent approach under the Paris Convention to protect their innovative designsand under a timeframe that meets their commercial needs;

OBSERVING that the timelines for the development and commercialised of products that are the subject of registered design/design patent applications range from a matter of weeks or months for some goods such as fashion items, to much longer periods measured in years for complex products such as automobiles;

FURTHER OBSERVING that in the former category it is important for rights to be granted quickly so that they can be rapidly enforced against imitation products and counterfeits, whereas in the latter category it is sometimes necessary for designs to remain secret, while products are being refined and perfected for commercial launch;

FURTHER OBSERVING that many designs between the two extremes do not require expedited or deferred treatment;

URGES Intellectual Property offices to provide options for:

• cost-efficient and effective expedited examination procedures for registered design/design patent applications; and
• cost-efficient and effective formal deferral procedures for registered design/design patent applications.

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