Yes, through two measures: information and opposition.
2 months from the publication date.
The filed application undergoes both formal and substantive examinations.
12 months on average.
10 years and is renewed every 5 or 10 years.
From one year prior to expiration date To 6 months (grace period) after expiration date.
i) Relative grounds of refusal: Similarity with earlier trademarks.
i) Absolute grounds of refusal: Descriptive mark indicating directly the characters of goods.
i) Application form stating applicant’s name/address, the date of submission, the name of the article on which the design is embodied, the claim, and the priority data.
i) Drawings of the design; Priority document; POA.
Yes. If a design was disclosed prior to filing date of a design application, a grace period system can be applied, and it refers to a claim for exception to loss of novelty.
Within 12 months from the initial disclosure.
After registration, the application is published.
Yes, up to three years after registration date.
Yes. They may be protected as design right, if they have three drawing sets; i) designated characters (52 alphabets), i) exemplary characters (36 alphabets) and i) representative characters (6 alphabets).