Architecture: Protecting Your Creations
It is important to know the process for protecting your creations.
Designers often develop new objects or technological solutions in their design practice, so it is important to know the process to protect their creations. The inventive component has always allowed professionals to develop unexpected solutions, which have revolutionized the world of design for example. From the great masters of the past to the great archistars, from Brunelleschi a Mies van der Rohe, passing through Carlo Ratti, everyone has invented new objects to respond to a specific design need.
However, the ex novo invention does not only concern the greats of the present and the past, but all the designers who carry out their professional practice on a daily basis. The solutions devised could often be worth protecting adequately in order to defend the industrial property right.
It is important to note that, in Italy, architectural projects cannot be protected by patents, but they can benefit from the protection offered by copyright, as long as they present the requirements of creativity and originality. Furthermore, for the design elements present in architectural works, it is possible to consider registration as a drawing or model, as long as they are new and have individual character.
Copyright protection
The Italian law on copyright (633 / 1941 law) explicitly protects architectural projects. According to Article 2, paragraph 5, the following are protected:
- Drawings, sketches, renderings and 3D models.
- Complete projects (including technical solutions, plans, sections, elevations).
- Design works having a creative character and artistic value, including industrial value.
Copyright protection is automatic: arises at the very moment in which the project or drawing is created and fixed on a medium (digital or paper), without the need for mandatory registration. It does not protect the generic idea, but the specific expression of the project (for example, a particular architectural or aesthetic solution).
What exactly does it protect:
- Expressive form and creative character of the architectural project.
- Technical drawings, sketches and detailed original solutions (not just common technical solutions).
Additional protection with official deposit
Although it is not mandatory, you can further strengthen your protection by:
- Deposit at SIAE (Italian Society of Authors and Publishers), OLAF section (Literary Works and Figurative Arts). The deposit creates certain proof of authorship and dating.
- Registration and filing with notaries, chambers of commerce or specialized private bodies that offer certified timestamping or digital timestamping.
This helps to demonstrate with certainty the date of production, useful in case of future disputes.
Industrial property: protection through registration
In addition to copyright, you may want to consider:
- Registration as an industrial design at the UIBM (Italian Patent and Trademark Office), if the project concerns industrial products, reproducible technical solutions, furnishings, interiors, design objects. (5-year protection, renewable up to 25 years) Protects a shape of an object intended for industrial production, provided that it is completely new, i.e. completely dissimilar to other objects on the market.
- Utility model patent, for some innovative technical solutions (10-year protection): it protects the shape of a product without which, the product itself would be less comfortable, would lose one or more useful features.
Registration offers territorial protection (Italy or Europe or International) and a fixed duration (usually 5 years renewable up to 25 years).
Examples of patents for industrial inventions filed by architects
How to patent your own project?
Not all projects, inventions or ideas can be patented and therefore protected. They must possess the following characteristics:
- they must be new: that is, if they are not included in the state of the art at the time they are filed. The state of the art is what has been made public (through written or oral description or through the use of any other means of disclosure) before the date of registration.
- must have inventive activity: that is, they must not be obvious or evident to an expert in the relevant field.
- must have industrial applicability: that is, they can be applied in one or more industrial sectors.
After having verified that the product has these three characteristics, before protecting one's own creation, it is necessary to verify what the state of the art is. To do this, a Patent prior art search in order to check if there are other similar inventions.
How do you file a patent?
To protect your invention and therefore patent it, in Italy you just need to fill out an online form, available on the dedicated portal, on the website ofUIBM (Italian Patent Office), at any Chamber of Commerce, or by registered mail addressed to UIBM. The following must be attached to the application: the claim of the work, its description, the documents, a summary of the invention and the technical drawings.
In Italy and elsewhere, patents are granted according to the “first to file” principle. That is the patent belongs to whoever first files the application. It is important to know, however, that once an application has been filed, it can no longer be changed. To enjoy the right of priority, in Italy and for all member countries of the Paris Convention, you have only 12 months. Claiming this priority therefore allows the applicant, within 12 months, to file a new application for the same invention. This allows you to request that the same invention be protected abroad as well.
The application remains secret for 18 months and during this period it can also be withdrawn. This is in case you do not want to proceed with the patent, but still want to maintain the secrecy of what has been presented.
According to the Prime Ministerial Decree no. 272/2010, the deadline for the conclusion of the Patent Granting procedure is 180 days. These days run from the date on which the application is made public pursuant to art. 53 of Legislative Decree no. 30/2005.
Patent filing timeframes
Protecting a creation follows a very strict time frame. With the registration of a patent, the exclusive rights held by the owner have a 20-year duration starting from the date of filing of the application.
He who deposits then has a year to decide whether or not to extend protection to other foreign countries. In this case, keep the priority date.
Within nine months from the filing of the application, in the case of Italian patents the European Patent Office (theEPO ) must provide the search report. The document is intended to certify that the characteristics of novelty and inventive activity exist.
The application will be made public with the publication in the Official Journal after 18 months. Within 24 / 36 months from its presentation the Office will reject the application or grant the patent. Obviously the owner can file an appeal, but only within 60 days.
Where to register your patent?
To protect your creations, you need to know that a patent is valid only in the country where it is applied for. In Italy, the application must be presented as previously explained, at UIBM. If you want to file a European patent, it is important to know that the official languages of international patents are French, German and English. Consequently, all documents must be filed in one of these three languages. This application will be filed or at the EPO, or to the UIBM which will in turn submit an application to the European Office.
For a patent valid outside Europe, an international patent application can be filed, managed by the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). The application can be submitted directly to WIPO, or alternatively to the EPO or UIBM.
How much does a patent cost?
Protecting one's own creation obviously has costs that vary depending on whether the application is for an invention or a utility model.
For invention patents the following office fees are foreseen (to which further costs must be added to keep the patent alive):
- basic fee of €50 in case of electronic filing;
- fee between €120 and €600 in the case of paper submission (depending on the number of pages the application consists of);
- additional fee of €45 for each claim over the tenth;
- €200 for the translation of the claims into English if they are not filed by the applicant.
For utility models Instead, the following office rights are foreseen:
- basic fee of €50 in case of electronic filing;
- fee of €120 and €600 in case of paper filing (regardless of the number of pages and the number of claims).
Below are the links with the price lists:
Patent Fees for Industrial Invention
Patent Fees for Utility Models
Practical tips for protecting drawings and design solutions
- Always include the author's name, date and © (Copyright) symbol on technical drawings.
- Share only low-resolution versions online, or with transparent watermarks to discourage unauthorized reproductions.
- Enter into specific assignment/license agreements or contracts with clients or collaborators that clarify ownership of the copyright.
- Maintain digital traces (original files, emails, contracts) that attest to creation and authorship.
What to do in case of violation
In case of violation, you can assert your rights through:
- Formal written warning to the infringer.
- Legal action to obtain termination, compensation for damages or recognition of paternity.
In summary:
Your architectural project or technical drawing is automatically protected by copyright from the moment it is created. However, optional deposits and registrations strengthen the protection and facilitate proof in the event of future disputes.
