The Global Design Database is an online search tool run by the World Intellectual Property Organization, an agency of the United Nations that deals with IP issues. It contains humongous amounts of information regarding designs that keep growing in time.
The Global Design Database contains a massive amount of information:
1. Registrations under the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs, which WIPO administers.
Designs from several national registration systems, including Canada, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States of America.
2. The online database has an intuitive interface and offers simultaneous searches of more than 13 110 000 industrial designs at a time that are registered under the WIPO-administered Hague System. The Global Design Database now includes the national collection of India with over 58,000 design models. One can access the database at https://www3.wipo.int/designdb/en/.
Purpose
Design protection confers on the design holder an exclusive right to use a design – making, offering, putting on the market, importing, exporting, or using the product in which the design is incorporated or to which it is applied – and to prevent third parties from using it commercially without its prior consent.
Design searching can be defined as searching design databases or other sources of design information to determine the availability of a particular design in the context of registration procedures, invalidity, and/or enforcement proceedings, or to study designs’ market development.
By searching for existing designs, one can:
i) Check if a design has already been registered to save the costs of trying to protect the same design;
ii) Study design trends for the products and markets of interest;
iii) Registered trademarks or other distinctive signs that by law confer on the holder the right to prohibit their use without prior authorization;
iv) Works protected under copyright law are intended to be used in subsequent designs;
v) Whether a design is new and original (possesses individual character);
vi) Whether the term of protection of a design expired;
vii) Design protection strategy
Search Criteria
Start your search by selecting your search criteria – choose from among the:
a) The type or class of product or a description of the design;
b) The name of the right holder, creator, or representative;
c) The application or registration number;
d) Key dates, for example, the registration or priority date; and
e) The country or countries of application or registration.
f) These fields include subcategories so you can make your search even more targeted.
Then you can narrow your search using the filter control: filter by source, designation, design class under the Locarno International Classification, and registration year. Filters can help you sort through your results at a glance and spot design trends in certain geographical regions or business areas.
A result list on the homepage displays the records that match your current search. The list is updated as you change your search criteria or filters, so you can instantly see how different options affect the results. An image of each design is shown when available, making the results display even clearer.
Conclusion
The Global Design Database is a worldwide data collection of industrial designs registered under the WIPO-administered Hague System and/or in participating national collections. This database enables free access to design data by multiple criterion searching. Users can choose searching designs by type of product, identification of the owner (creator) of the design, application, and/or registration number and date, and countries where protection is sought/granted.
