The Republic of Latvia Rules on Industrial Designs
Law on Industrial Designs (hereinafter, law) entered into force as of November 18, 2004 instead of previous «Rules on Industrial Design» (of April 15, 2004), which lost its force.
The Law defines the term «industrial design» as «external appearance of an article created as a result of the features of the article». According to the Law, industrial design is protectable if it is new and has an individual character.
Similarly to the provisions of the Patent Law, there is no substantive examination of patentability of an industrial design in Latvia. The examination is based on the formal requirements to the application.
According to the Law, the document, which certifies the rights to the industrial design, is a Registration Certificate (not a patent as it was in the Law on Industrial Design Protection, which lost its force). Registration of an industrial design is valid within 5 years from application filing date. This term can be prolonged four times, each time – for 5 years period.
| 
