New Zealand and Montenegro join DesignView and DesignClass respectively
New Zealand became the 72nd country to share its data on DesignView on June 30, 2020.
DesignView is a unique tool, facilitated by the EUIPO, offering access to more than 16.2 million designs in total. EUIPO's DesignView benefits owners of registered designs by allowing their visibility in an international design database. International applicants seeking protection for industrial designs will be more likely to identify previously registered designs from countries that are privy to the DesignView database.
Montenegro initially became a participant to DesignView on May 28th, 2018, upgrading to DesignClass on July 13, 2020. With the addition of Montenegro, DesignView currently allows for the search of over 16,000 designs on a single platform which helps businesses search and analyse market tendencies. Montenegro also brings the total number of participating offices to DesignClass to 36, providing the ability to search and translate product indications in a variety of 28 languages.
The steps taken towards international collaboration in Montenegro and New Zealand demonstrate dedication to creating a harmonised IP field across the globe. It is hoped that with increased world-wide cooperation, IP applicants and rights holders will benefit equally in the registration and maintenance of IP protection.