Application process at the PRH
Processing your design application at the PRH takes little less than one month on average (situation in September 2024). The processing time will be longer if you request to defer publishing the application. Read more about keeping the application secret.
Remember that the design is conditionally protected from the application day onwards. This means that if you file your design application today, it will get priority over an application filed tomorrow.
Processing steps
Applicant
File an application with the PRH in Finnish or in Swedish. Read our instructions: How to apply to register a design.
When the design has been registered, you will receive a registration certificate from the PRH.
If the PRH has found an obstacle to the registration, you will receive an office action as a registered letter.
Respond to the PRH by the deadline. The time limit is calculated from the date when the office action was issued. Read our instructions: How to respond to office actions.
If you fail to respond to the office action by the deadline, and the PRH has dismissed your application, you can ask the PRH to reinstate it.
When the PRH has reinstated the application, and you have received an office action and you respond to it, the PRH will examine the application.
If you fail to respond to the PRH’s office action, the PRH will not process the application, and the designs in the application will not be registered.
You can lodge an appeal if the PRH has rejected your application either in part or in full or has dismissed the application. Read more about appeal.
PRH
The PRH checks first that the design application is formally correct in terms of, for example, the classification, illustrations and other details included in the application. In addition, the PRH examines whether the design can be registered.
If the PRH finds no obstacles to registering the design, the PRH registers the design and publishes it in the Design Gazette.
The date of publication of the Design Gazette is followed by an opposition period of two months, during which anyone can file an opposition against the registered design. Read more about opposition.
If the PRH finds an obstacle to the registration, the PRH will send the applicant an office action.
If the applicant responds to the office action by the deadline, and the obstacles to registration are overcome, the PRH registers the design and publishes it in the Design Gazette.
The date of publication of the Design Gazette is followed by an opposition period of two months, during which anyone can file an opposition against the registered design. Read more about opposition.
If the obstacles to registration are not overcome, the PRH rejects the application either in part or in full.
If the applicant fails to respond to the PRH’s office action by the deadline, the application will be dismissed.
The PRH will reinstate the dismissed application at the request of the applicant and sends the applicant an office action.
If the applicant responds to the office action by the deadline, and the obstacles to registration are overcome, the PRH registers the design.
If the obstacles to registration are not overcome, the PRH rejects the application either in part or in full.
If the applicant fails to respond to the PRH’s office action by the deadline, the PRH will not process the application, and the designs in the application will not be registered.