Sa'ar Alon, Partner and head of the Designs Department at MARQUES member Reinhold Cohn & Partners, has contacted Class 99 with the news that Israel's new Design Law came into force on 7 August.

This law replaces the old Designs Ordinance of 1924. It extends design protection from 18 years to 25 years and introduces an absolute novelty requirement. The new Law also regulates unregistered designs. 

The Law provides for statutory damages of up to ILS100,000 ($27,000) for each act of infringement and establishes a criminal offence for intentional copying of a registered design without authorisation.

Sa'ar has provided a full analysis of the new Law on his firm's website. A list of Israeli IP laws and regulations is available on WIPO Lex here.