Handling process for designs
Once your application has been received by PRV and the application fee is paid, we can begin processing it.
This is how it works
1. PRV receives the application
Your application is an official document. Anyone can access the information in it. You have the possibility to request that the images in your application shall be secret. Such a request applies for a maximum of six months.
2. Examination
How long it takes for PRV to issue a decision on your application depends on how many cases we receive.
We check that your application meets the formal requirements that exist. If we find impediments to registering your design, you receive an office action. This is a letter where we notify you of any impediments we have identified. You address these impediments by responding to the office action.
Examples of formal deficiencies may be that your application:
- is not paid
- has images that do not meet the image requirements
3. Examination of the requirement of being new and distinctive
When you send in your application, PRV does not conduct any comparative examination against previously known or registered designs.
It is you as the applicant who is responsible for finding out if the appearance of your product differs from previously known or registered designs.
4. Dismissal
If you received an office action and do not respond to it within the set time, PRV may dismiss your application. If you correct the shortcomings and pay a restoration fee within two months after the response time has expired, we can resume processing.
5. Decision on registration
If your images meet the image requirements and we have not found any other impediments, we make a decision to register your design.
6. Publication
When PRV registers your design, we publish an announcement in the Swedish Design Registration Journal. We also publish the images and other information from your application in the Swedish Design Database.
If you have requested that the images in your design shall be secret during a certain period of time, we postpone a decision on registration until the secrecy period has expired.
You can shorten the secrecy period if you want us to make a decision on registration earlier. You do so by sending a signed letter to PRV where you provide a date on which you want the design to become public.
7. Opposition
PRV announces your design in the Swedish Design Registration Journal so that the public will have the opportunity to file opposition to the registration.
An opposition can come from somebody who thinks that your design is too similar to a product that is already on the market.
Anyone who wants to oppose a registration must do so in writing to PRV within two months of the date of the registration.
The opposition may mean that the registered design is revoked, entirely or to a certain extent. PRV decides if the opposition is justified and you as a holder will always have the opportunity to comment before we make a decision.
8. Appeal
If you are not satisfied with PRV’s decision, you can appeal it with the Patent and Market Court (PMC).
You must make your appeal to the Patent and Market Court, but send it to PRV. We assess if the appeal has been received in due time, examine our decision and decide on a position regarding your arguments.
If we stand by our decision, your appeal is forwarded to the PMC. Their decision can in turn be appealed with the Patent and Market Court of Appeal (PMCA) if they grant leave to appeal.
Send your appeal to:
PRV
Box 530
826 27 Söderhamn
Time until notification
Visit our information page for current processing times to find out when you can expect feedback.
