An object declared as an industrial design shall be granted legal protection if it is new, original and industrially applicable.

An industrial design is considered new if, prior to the filing date of the application for registration or the priority date, the combination of its essential features or an identical industrial design were not publicly disclosed.

Industrial designs are considered identical if their essential characteristics differ in non-essential details.

The essential features of an industrial design include those that determine the aesthetic and (or) ergonomic features of the appearance of the product, in particular, the shape, configuration, ornament and color combination.

In establishing the novelty, industrial designs patented in Turkmenistan and applications for industrial designs of other persons filed with earlier priority  in Turkmenistan IP State Service (Turkmenpatent) are also taken into account.

An industrial design is recognized as publicly disclosed if it was published in connection with registration, exhibiting, used in commercial activities or otherwise became available to the public.

The public disclosure of information related to the industrial design by the applicant, author or any person who received this information directly or indirectly from him, in which information about the nature of the industrial design became publicly available, is not recognized as a circumstance affecting the patentability of an industrial design, if the application was filed to Turkmenpatent no later than six months from the date of disclosure. Moreover, the obligation to prove this fact lies with the applicant.

An industrial design is recognized as original if its essential features determine the creative nature of the product features.

An industrial design is recognized as meeting the condition of originality, if at least on one of its essential distinguishing features has not been identified the artistic design solutions that are inherent in such a sign.

The following artistic design solutions are not recognized as industrial designs:

• a single simple geometric volume (prismatic, spherical, conical and other type of volume) or individual simple geometric figures;
• forms that are fully borrowed without creative processing;
• products in which, in comparison with the prototype, only the sizes and proportions are changed, or the number of elements is changed.

An industrial design is recognized as industrially applicable if it can be repeatedly reproduced.

Products related to highly artistic manual work are subject to copyright protection.

The substantive examination is carried out after six months from the date of filing of the application, provided that the formal examination is completed.

During the substantive examination, the compliance of the declared industrial design with the patentability conditions.

On an application filed in violation of the requirement for the unity of an industrial design, the applicant is offered to inform ,in  three months from the date of the notification,  which of the declared industrial designs should be considered, and if necessary, amend materials of an early application for an industrial design.

Other industrial designs contained in this application may be executed by separate applications with the priority and date of filing retained in accordance with the earlier application.

Any interested person, subject to payment of the fee, may file a reasoned objection to Turkmenpatent to the possible grant of a patent or international registration before an examination decision is made. The applicant shall be notified of the receipt of the objection.

During the substantive examination, Turkmenpatent has the right to request additional materials from the applicant, without which it is impossible to conduct an examination.

If, as a result of the substantive examination, Turkmenpatent determines that the claimed industrial design complies with the patentability conditions, then the applicant shall be sent a decision to grant a patent of Turkmenistan or a decision to register an industrial design in Turkmenistan on an international application.

If in the course of the substantive examination, an industrial design is found to be inconsistent with the conditions of patentability, a notification shall be sent to the applicant about a possible refusal to grant a patent or international registration with a proposal to present his arguments regarding the reasons given in the notification.

The applicant’s arguments, if filed to Turkmenpatent within three months from the date of the notification, are taken into account when deciding on the refusal or deciding to grant a patent or international registration in Turkmenistan. The established deadline for response at the request of the applicant may be renewed by six months, subject to payment of the corresponding fee.