Industrial Design Protection in Laos is governed by “Law on Intellectual Property No. 08/NA dated December 24, 2007, Decree No. 01/PM of the Prime Minister on Patent, Petty Patent and Industrial Designs” dated January 17, 2002, and “Regulation No. 322/STEA-PMO on the Implementation of Decree on Patent, Petty Patent and Industrial Designs” dated February 18, 2003.

“Industrial Design” means any composition of lines or colors or any three-dimensional form, whether or not associated with lines or colors, which can serve as a pattern for a product of industry or handicraft or give a special appearance to such a product, and appeals to and is judged by the eye.

An industrial design is registrable if it is new in the sense that it has not been disclosed to the public, anywhere in the world, by publication in tangible form or by use or in any other way, prior to the filing date, where applicable, the priority date of the application for registration.

Application for Registration of Industrial Design shall be filed with the Science, Technology and Environment Agency (STEA), and it requires the following documents and information:

• A notarized Power of Attorney from the applicant granting an agent/authorized representative the authority to act on their behalf in the registration process (a scanned copy is acceptable at filing and the original must be submitted within 1 month from the filing date) (click here to download form);
• A notarized Deed of Assignment from the designer(s) to the applicant if the applicant and the designer(s) are not the same;
• Full Name, Address and Nationality of the applicant and designer(s);
• 6 sets of drawings/photos of the design comprising of front, top, bottom, left, right, back and perspective views with the same scale (may be accompanied by a specimen of the article embodying a design if the design is 2-dimensional);
• A copy of the description of the design showing its novelty and a prior art.

In case the right of priority is claimed:

• Information including the filing date, number of application, and the country of any priority application;
• A copy of the priority application(s) filed by the applicant or his/her predecessor in title duly certified by the Patent and Trade Mark Office receiving the priority application(s) and the sworn English translation in the case the priority application(s) is not in English.

Application for registration of industrial design may cover two or more industrial designs, provided they relate to the same class of the International Classification or to the same set or composition of articles.

The application, at the time of filing, may contain a request that the publication of the industrial design, upon registration, be deferred for a period not exceeding 12 months from the date of filing or, if priority is claimed, from the date of priority, of the application.

The process of examination of applications for registration of an industrial design may take 3 to 4 months once complete documentation has been submitted.

If the application for registration of an industrial design is found acceptable, the STEA shall publish the result of registration, and issue a certificate of industrial design within 6 months thereafter. If the application is found not acceptable, the STEA will send to the applicant a decision refusing registration.

The industrial design registration is effected on the granting date and expires after 5 years from the filing date, and is renewable for two continuous periods of 5 years each. In order to maintain the certificate of industrial design, an annual fee for some years or the whole duration of protection shall be paid in advance by the owner of the certificate of an industrial design.

Request for Renewal of Certificate of Industrial Design can be filed within six (6) months before the date of expiry or within a period of six (6) months following that date upon submission of reasons for delay.

Documentation for renewal covers:

• A notarized Power of Attorney from the owner of the certificate of industrial design;
• A copy of the Certificate of Industrial Design.

Vintell Patent & Trademark Company provide clients with a full range of services in relation to industrial designs, including searching, filing, prosecution of design applications, appeals, licensing and assignments, and enforcing through negotiation and litigation.