For design protection in Spain and Portugal, the cheapest route is usually a national design at each office, and the broadest is a registered EU design. A Spanish application at the OEPM costs EUR 66.27 online in 2026 and can cover up to ten designs, against EUR 350 for a single design at the EUIPO. The EU design wins as soon as you sell, or expect copies, beyond the Iberian Peninsula. This guide is for Spanish and Portuguese SMEs and for Latin American companies using Iberia as their entry point to Europe.
Key takeaways
- Spain (OEPM), Portugal (INPI) and the EU (EUIPO) all offer registered designs for up to 25 years, renewable every five years.
- Official fees for one design kept for 25 years: about EUR 408 in Spain and EUR 344 in Portugal, against EUR 1,850 for an EU design, at current rates.
- The OEPM fee covers up to ten designs per application; the EUIPO charges EUR 125 for each additional design.
- Spain must transpose the new EU Design Directive by 9 December 2027; the reform of Law 20/2003 is still pending.
What are the routes for design protection in Spain and Portugal?
A registered design protects the appearance of a product: its lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials. In Iberia there are four ways to obtain one:
- A Spanish design at the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM), under Law 20/2003 on the legal protection of industrial design. Valid in Spain only.
- A Portuguese design (“desenho ou modelo”) at Portugal’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Valid in Portugal only.
- A registered EU design at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), under Regulation (EU) 2026/715. One unitary right for all 27 Member States.
- An international registration under the Hague System administered by WIPO, designating the EU (EUR 62 per design under Annex I of the Regulation) and other countries.
Alongside these, a design first made available to the public in the EU enjoys an unregistered EU design for three years (Article 12 of the Regulation), but only against copying (Article 20(4)). It is a safety net, not a strategy.
How much does each route cost?
The table compares official fees only, online filing, from each office’s current schedule: the OEPM 2026 design fees, the INPI Portugal fee table in force since 1 July 2024 (Deliberation 447/2024, the latest published on its website) and Annex I of Regulation 2026/715.
| Item | Spain (OEPM) | Portugal (INPI) | EU design (EUIPO) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application | EUR 66.27, up to 10 designs | EUR 123.00, up to 5 products | EUR 350, one design |
| Additional designs | EUR 57.99 each from the 11th (lower from the 21st) | EUR 12.31 per additional product | EUR 125 each (maximum 50 per application) |
| Renewal every 5 years | EUR 85.54 per registration of up to 10 designs | Per product: included, then EUR 36.90 / 49.19 / 61.51 / 73.78 | Per design: EUR 150 / 250 / 400 / 700 |
| Late renewal surcharge | 25% in the first 3 months after expiry, 50% in the next 3 | 50% | 25%, within 6 months after expiry |
| One design kept 25 years | About EUR 408 | About EUR 344 | EUR 1,850 |
| Territory | Spain | Portugal | 27 EU Member States |
The 25-year totals are our own sums at current rates; national fees are updated periodically, so later renewals will cost whatever is in force then. Paper filing costs more at both national offices, and professional fees are not included.
National design or EU design: which fits your business?
Price per right is only one factor. In practice, the decision turns on four questions.
Where will you sell, and where will copies appear?
If the product is sold only in Spain, an OEPM design is hard to beat on cost. Spain plus Portugal can still be cheaper with two national filings, but you manage two procedures, two languages and two renewal calendars. Once sales, online shops or distributors reach other Member States, the EU design is usually the efficient choice: one filing, one renewal and one right enforceable across the Union.
How many designs are you filing?
Collections favour the OEPM, where one fee covers ten designs, provided they share a Locarno class (Article 22 of Law 20/2003, except two-dimensional ornamentation). At the EUIPO each extra design adds EUR 125, but Article 44 of the Regulation allows up to 50 designs in one application without that class requirement.
How much procedural risk can you accept?
Neither the OEPM nor the EUIPO examines novelty or individual character before registering. At the OEPM, however, anyone can oppose within two months of publication (Article 33 of Law 20/2003). At the EUIPO there is no opposition, only invalidity proceedings after registration. An EU design is also unitary: if it is declared invalid, it falls for the whole Union (Article 1(3)), whereas national rights stand or fall separately.
Do you need to keep the design confidential?
Spain and the EU allow publication to be deferred for up to 30 months from filing or priority (Article 32 of Law 20/2003; Article 62 of the Regulation). In Portugal, the official filing guide allows deferment of one to 30 months.
Demand is moving towards EU-wide rights: the EUIPO reported on 7 July 2026 that EU design applications from Spain rose by 28% in the first half of 2026, while total filings fell by 1%.
What will change with the reform of Spain’s Design Law?
Directive (EU) 2024/2823 recasts the rules for national designs, and Member States must transpose most of it by 9 December 2027 (Article 36). On 21 February 2025 the OEPM opened a prior public consultation, until 6 March 2025, on amending Law 20/2003. The consolidated text in the BOE has not been amended since 2018, so the reform was still pending on the date of this article. The Directive brings, among other things:
- Dynamic and animated representations, including video and computer modelling (Article 26).
- A harmonised repair clause for visible spare parts (Article 19).
- A registration symbol, the letter D in a circle (Article 24).
- Express cumulation with copyright where its requirements are met (Article 23).
Portugal is bound by the same deadline. Until both laws change, filings follow the current national rules.
What this means for your business
- List the markets where the product is sold or made, and where you expect copies.
- Group the designs by Locarno class and decide which justify EU-wide protection.
- File before any public disclosure, or at least within 12 months of it: Spain, Portugal and the EU all have a 12-month grace period, but other countries may not.
- Diary every renewal in one calendar, with the surcharge windows of each office.
- Use the six-month priority from the first filing to extend to other countries or to the Hague System.
If you need the Spanish, Portuguese and EU filings run as one plan, our industrial design registration team for Spain, Portugal and the EU can prepare the filings before the OEPM and the EUIPO directly where our professionals are entitled and, otherwise, through qualified representatives, and coordinate the Portuguese filing.
Where companies get this wrong
- Disclosing first and filing too late. A trade fair or a social media launch starts the 12-month clock; after that, the company’s own product destroys novelty.
- Filing in Spain only and then selling online across the EU, with no registered right outside Spain.
- Comparing filing fees and forgetting renewals: an EU design costs EUR 1,500 per design in renewals over its life.
- Registering in the name of a distributor, designer or subsidiary instead of the company that will enforce the right.
- Letting renewals slip between offices with different calendars and surcharges.
A single adviser tracking every filing, owner and deadline across the three offices removes most of these risks at little cost.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to register a design in Spain?
The OEPM’s 2026 application fee is EUR 66.27 when filed and paid online, or EUR 77.96 on paper, and it covers up to ten designs in the same Locarno class. Each renewal every five years costs EUR 85.54 online for up to ten designs. These are official fees only; professional fees are separate.
Does an EU design protect my product in Spain and Portugal?
Yes. A registered EU design has equal effect in all EU Member States, including Spain and Portugal, and can be enforced in either country. It is granted by the EUIPO for five years from filing and can be renewed up to 25 years. It falls as a whole if declared invalid.
Can I hold a Spanish design and an EU design for the same product?
The two systems coexist, and some companies combine them, for instance a national filing first and an EU filing within the six-month priority period. Whether double protection is worth it depends on the markets, the budget and the enforcement plan, so it should be decided case by case.
Can IP Global Guard file my designs in Spain, Portugal and the EU?
Yes. We assess which route fits, prepare the filings before the OEPM and the EUIPO directly where our professionals are entitled and, otherwise, through qualified representatives, coordinate the Portuguese filing and keep every renewal on a single calendar, with one point of contact and one invoice.
Choosing the right Iberian design strategy with IP Global Guard
The cheapest filing is not always the cheapest strategy once renewals, copies and new markets enter the picture. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, plans and manages design protection across more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa; see our coverage map.
Send us the products you want to protect, where you sell them and when they will be shown in public. We will compare the national and EU routes with real figures and coordinate the filings from a single point of contact. Get in touch with our design team.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and official fees should be checked on the date of filing.
Sources
- OEPM, Industrial design fees 2026
- BOE, Law 20/2003 of 7 July on the legal protection of industrial design (consolidated text)
- INPI Portugal, fee tables (Deliberation 447/2024, in force since 1 July 2024)
- Justiça.gov.pt, Apply for the registration of a design (INPI)
- EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2026/715 on European Union designs (30 March 2026)
- EUR-Lex, Directive (EU) 2024/2823 on the legal protection of designs (18 November 2024)
- OEPM, Prior public consultation on the transposition of the Designs Directive (21 February 2025)
- EUIPO, EU trade marks push IP filings to a record high in the first half of 2026 (7 July 2026)
