Licensing your design right

You as the design right owner can grant someone else a licence to use your registered design. This means that although you retain the ownership of the design right, another company or person is given the right to use the design. The licensor and the licensee agree with each other on the details concerning the conditions of and the compensation for the use.

The licence may be exclusive or non-exclusive. If the licence is exclusive, the design right owner cannot grant other licences for the same registration. If the licence is non-exclusive, the owner can grant several licences for the design.

We recommend that you apply to register the licence

As licensee you should secure your right by requesting that the PRH record the licence in the Designs Register. The licence is deemed to have become public once it has been entered into the register.

If you fail to request registration of the licence, the design right owner may grant a licence later to someone else who is unaware of the earlier licence. In that case, the latter licensee’s right is valid when recorded in the Designs Register.

If the licence has been registered, and the design right owner requests that the PRH remove the design from the register before its expiry date, you as licensee must be given the opportunity of monitoring your right before the design is removed from the register.

How to apply to register the licence

The application can be submitted either by the design right owner or by the licensee, and it must include the following details and documents:

• registration number of the design
• name, domicile or registered office, and address of the licensee
• name, domicile or registered office, address and power of attorney of the representative, if any
• date of the licence agreement, and its restrictions, if any
• copy of the licence agreement.

Use our application form concerning a registered design (available in Finnish and in Swedish) to submit the changes. Remember to enclose a power of attorney, if needed. Go to the page with the application form and powers of attorney.

We charge a fee for changing the register details. See the fee in our price list and payment instructions.