IP protection of a product’s industrial design protects the “ new and ornamental… form or shape of the product”
The Law sets out requirements to obtain an industrial design certificate in order to protect IP in an industrial design as ‘new and ornamental’
An industrial design shall be deemed ‘new’ for the purpose of the Law if it has not been disclosed to the public by publication, display or use, in Lao PDR or anywhere else, prior to the date of filing of the application for registration. An industrial design will be considered ‘ornamental’ for the purpose of the Law if it gives a special appearance to the object to which the design is applied or in which it is embodied and such appearance is not functional or dictated by technical features of the object.
Designs ineligible for industrial design registration are those in which the appearance of the design is dictated by technical features of the object to which the design is applied or in which it is embodies, and designs that are considered contrary to social order and the fine traditions of the nation by the relevant authorities.
