Unregistered design rights

This is the appropriate means of protection for designs for industrial articles. Like copyright, it arises without the need for any special registration or application, so it is cheap to obtain. Also, like copyright, it does not give a complete monopoly, it only prevents copying, so if someone else comes up with the same design independently, they cannot be stopped.

A design right lasts for at most fifteen years from the year in which the design was made, but it expires after ten years, if the design is first marketed within the first five years of the life of the design right.