Industrial Design
Industrial Designs
An industrial design constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. A design may consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an article, or of two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color.
What is an industrial design?
Legally speaking, an industrial design refers to the decorative aspect of a product.
An industrial design might include three-dimensional characteristics, like the form of an item, or two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines, or color.
What kind of protection does an industrial design right offer?
In essence, the proprietor of a registered industrial design or design patent possesses the authority to prohibit third parties from producing, selling, or importing items that feature or embody a design closely resembling the protected design, particularly when such actions are conducted for commercial gain.
What kind of products can benefit from industrial design protection?
Industrial designs are utilized across a diverse range of industrial and artisanal products, spanning from packaging and containers to furniture and household items, from lighting fixtures to jewelry, and from electronic gadgets to textiles. Additionally, industrial designs may pertain to graphic symbols, graphical user interfaces (GUI), and logos.
How are industrial designs protected?
Frequently Asked Questions
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Industrial design rights are granted for a limited period. The duration of the protection of industrial designs varies from country to country, but it amounts at least to 10 years. In many countries, the total duration of protection is divided into successive renewable periods.
Industrial design rights are usually enforced in a court, generally on the initiative of the owner of the rights, as provided for by the applicable law. The remedies and penalties vary from country to country and could be civil (injunctions to desist from an infringement, payment of damages, etc.), criminal or administrative.
An industrial design right protects only the appearance or aesthetic features of a product, whereas a patent protects an invention that offers a new technical solution to a problem. In principle, an industrial design right does not protect the technical or functional features of a product. Such features could, however, potentially be protected by a patent.
Depending on the applicable laws, independently created industrial designs must fulfil some or all of the following criteria: novelty/originality.
The assessment of novelty and originality varies from country to country. In general, an industrial design is considered to be new or novel if it has not previously been disclosed to the public and it may be considered original if it significantly differs from known designs or combinations of known design features.
The protection of industrial designs should form an integral part of any business strategy. The main reasons to protect industrial designs are the following:
- Return on investments: Protection contributes to obtaining a return on investments made in creating and marketing attractive and innovative products.
- Exclusive rights: Protection provides exclusive rights for at least 10 years, so as to prevent or stop others from commercially exploiting or copying the industrial design.
- Strengthen brands: Industrial designs can be an important element of a company’s brand. Protecting industrial designs contributes to protecting a company’s brand.
- Opportunity to license or sell: Protection provides rights that may be sold or licensed to another enterprise, which will then be a source of income for the owner of the rights.
- Positive image: Protection helps convey a positive image of a company, since industrial designs are business assets which may increase the market value of a company and its products.
- Reward: Protecting industrial designs rewards and encourages creativity.
If you don’t protect your industrial design(s) then it follows that you may not enjoy exclusive rights to them. Consequently, your competitors may take a product to market, incorporating your industrial design, without getting your permission.
So if a competitor or anyone else makes, sells or imports products bearing or embodying a design which is a copy (or substantially copy) of your industrial design without your consent, you will have no legal means to fight them. Moreover, it is likely that copies of the industrial design will be sold at a lower price as competitors do not have to recoup the investments made in the creative process. This could reduce your market share for the product in question and be harmful both to your firm’s reputation and to that of your products.