Protection of Graphical User Interfaces as Registered Design Rights or Design Patents in Sweden

• The application fee for registration of one design is 2000 SEK via the designated e-service, and 2500 SEK for application via post or email.
• For each subsequent design, payment is reduced to 1400 SEK.
• An additional fee of 200 SEK will be charged for each additional picture accompanying the application, if the application includes more than one picture.
• An additional fee of 500 SEK will be charged for each additional class if the application includes more than one class of design.
• An additional fee of 800 SEK will be charged for any potential storage of a physical model of a design.

• Renewals are subject to a fee of 2500 SEK every 5 years, provided the designated e-service is used. Other methods of renewals are subject to a fee of 3000 SEK. 
• As with initial filings, additional renewals made in the application are subject to a reduced fee of 1400 SEK. 
• As with initial filings, a fee of 500 SEK applies for each additional class of design included in the renewal request. 
• As with initial filings, a fee of 800 SEK applies to any potential storage of a physical model of a design.
• A fee of 900 SEK applies to requests for adding licensees or notifying transfers of ownership of designs.

The estimated time for a decision is 3-4 weeks from the application date.

Sweden applies the same grace period of 12 months as the EU does. 

Pictures of the design can be deferred for a maximum of 6 months. Other parts of the application are always public. 

• There is no need for a POA in order to file an application for registration of a design.
• A creator of a design is always a physical person. If a company is to apply for and be listed as the holder of a design created by a physical person, then the right to the design must be transferred to the company by such person. 
• A deed of assignment must be submitted, showing that the designer has transferred the right to the design.

• A national design application is only valid in Sweden. If you wish to register your design in other countries, you have six months from the Swedish application date to do so. During this period, the novelty requirement is still considered to be met. In an application to register the design abroad, the Swedish application should be specified as the basis for priority by stating the country, application number, and application date. The foreign application is then considered to have been made at the same time as the Swedish application. Some countries also require you to submit a copy of your first registration, also known as a priority certificate.
• If you have registered a design in another country and wish to apply for priority in Sweden, you must submit an application to the Swedish Patent and Registration Office within six months from the application date of the previous registration. In the application, you state that the design has previously been applied for in another country, along with the previous application date and number. In order to apply for priority in Sweden, the country where the original registration was made must be a signatory to the Paris Convention.

Only formalities are subject to examination.

Prior art searches are not conducted by authorities. 

• If an application invoking convention priority is filed, the novelty is not considered to be lost and the application is considered to have been filed at the same time as the first one. 
• The convention priority is less important within the EU, as a novelty period has been introduced. It can still be highly significant in countries outside the EU.
• National applications depend on the country's design law, which differs. What is protected in one country is not automatically protected in another country. Protection varies not only by country, but also based on how the registration authority handles the application and whether it is subject to a preliminary examination.

No, it is not possible to challenge a design application at the application stage. The only opportunity to challenge a design is through an invalidity action after registration.

There is no limit on the amount of representations for a single design.

According to Directive (EU) 2024/2823, the term design refers to among other things movement, change, or any other type of animation of details. The reproduction may be dynamic or animated and can be affected by using video. There is no Swedish case law on the matter, but given the primacy of EU law, it is reasonable to assume that the same should apply to Swedish applications.

No disclaimers or additional context except those mentioned below may be showed in the images contained in an application.

• The recognized drawing conventions are images, which include photographs, illustrations, and computer-generated images. The design is registered in the same colour shown in the images. Technical drawings with arrows, dimensions, or descriptive texts are not accepted by the Swedish Patent and Registration Office.
• To clearly indicate which parts of the design are not intended to be registered, it is recommended to use dotted lines or to lower the opacity on the parts that are to be excluded from registration.
• Products which do not have a specific dimension of space (width, height or depth), but are consistent in the design, may be shown with break lines in middle, signalling this. This means that both dotted lines and break lines are permitted to represent different things.

• A GUI is not a form of expression of a computer program covered by Article 1(2) of the Software Directive 91/250/EEC. Therefore, it cannot be protected by the copyright of the computer program as such. However, it may be considered an independent work of art if it is the author's own personal creation. This was confirmed by the ECJ in Case C-393/09 (Bezpeènostní softwarová asociace). Since user interfaces are usually functionally conditioned, the originality requirements should be relatively high and must be met in order for it to be protected by copyright. 
• Moreover, a GUI can also be registered as a trademark. However, it must meet the requirements for trademark protection under the relevant legislation, such as the EU Trademark Regulation or the Swedish Trademark Act.

• The distinction between different forms of protection tend to blur and overlap and it is not uncommon for one performance to be covered by several intellectual property rights (cumulation). It is often advantageous for right holders when the different exclusive rights merge, particularly in terms of competition. Intellectual property rights are becoming important strategic assets for companies. Overlapping protection can also create flexibility and opportunities for those facing limitations. This is explained by the different characteristics of intellectual property rights, among other things. 
• When various forms of protection provided by intellectual property law overlap, for instance an infringing act may be punishable under both copyright and design protection laws.

• Since applications are not examined for their originality, a common pitfall is omitting to do a thorough check of the database containing all design rights.
• As previously mentioned, the Swedish Patent and Registration Office does not examine or assess the novelty or distinctive character of your design. Consequently, it is the applicant’s responsibility to determine whether the appearance of your product differs from previously known or registered designs. It is therefore important that you conduct a thorough investigation to avoid infringing on someone else's intellectual property rights.

• When submitting an application, you need to answer a series of questions. To prepare your application, make sure to finalize the appearance that you intend to protect since it cannot be changed afterwards. This appearance must be new and distinctive. 
• Search design databases for registered designs in different product categories to assess your design's novelty and distinctiveness.
• If you have started selling or publicly displaying your product, you must apply for design registration within twelve months of publishing the design to obtain protection.
• Since your design's protection is based on the images published at the time of registration it is important that the images you submit are clear and show the product from different angles.

• Sweden has a dual relationship with the Hague System. Sweden has not yet acceded to the system, which is why Sweden cannot be designated in an application. However, the EU has acceded to the system, meaning that applicants from Sweden can use the Hague System. Applications for international designs must be submitted directly to WIPO and cannot be sent via the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, as this authority is completely separate from the international system.
• According to the Hague Convention, you are guaranteed at least 15 years of protection. The European Union provides for a longer protection period of 25 years of protection.
• In Sweden, a design registration is valid for a period of five years from the date of application. It is possible to apply for and pay for several five-year periods directly when applying. When renewing your registration, you have the same option to renew and pay for several periods. The maximum period of exclusive rights to your design is 25 years.

• In 2024, the EU adopted revised legislation on design protection, namely Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 and Directive (EU) 2024/2823. The regulation entered into force on May 1, 2025, but Member States have 36 months to implement the directive into their national systems. The Swedish government presented proposals to adapt the EU Design Regulation in Government Bill 2024/25:2108 and in Directive 2025:14.
• According to the Directive, the investigator's overall task is to propose how the Design Protection Directive should be implemented in Sweden, as well as to draft the necessary legislative proposals to adapt Swedish law to the new regulations. The directive clarifies what can be protected as a design. It states that products reproduced in digital format, such as a user interface or an animation, may constitute a design.