Design Protection Services

Design rights are an essential part of your intellectual property rights portfolio, alongside patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Whether it is a new medical device or a dress, design rights can sit alongside other IP rights and provide complementary protection for different aspects of a product. This is known as a layered IP rights strategy. 

• Logos, patterns and prints

One area in particular where design rights have the potential to be used effectively as a complement to trade marks is in relation to logos. You can use design rights to protect logos, especially when they aren't distinctive enough to qualify for trademark protection. For example, a simple logo that consists of a common pattern or just a single letter might be rejected as a trademark, but you could still protect its specific visual appearance with a design right. This offers another valuable layer of legal protection. 

• Shapes 

Shapes in particular can be difficult to protect under trade mark law. To succeed, you need to provide a lot of evidence proving the shape is truly unique and that the public recognizes it as belonging specifically to your brand. Courts have been very strict on this and have often rejected attempts to trademark shapes, even for well-known products like the London taxi, the Land Rover Defender, and Nestlé’s four-fingered Kit Kat bar.

• Patents 

Design and patent rights complement each other, so both need to be considered to achieve optimal protection for a new product. A patent is used to protect a technical innovation covering an improved functionality of a product or process. However, a patent cannot be used to protect features that are purely aesthetic in nature, such as the external appearance of a product. For new products, the appearance may be a significant draw for consumers in addition to the functionality of the product. To provide optimal protection, both designs and patents can be filed to broadly protect the aesthetic appearance and technical innovation respectively.  

Our on-demand IP consulting team can help you integrate design protection with other brand protection services to ensure your creative assets are fully covered.

Generally, any product’s aesthetic features, such as its shape, configuration, pattern, or decoration, can be protected. Other features relating to logos, typefaces, and even animated sequences and graphical user interfaces can be protected under a registered design. 

Our IP consulting specialists can advise you on whether your specific design qualifies and how to maximize its protection.

Protection for a registered design lasts for an initial period of 5 years upon filing of the application, and this registration can be renewed every 5 years up to a period of 15 years, subject to the payment of renewal fees. Effective brand protection services often include timely renewals and ongoing management of your intellectual property rights.

While it’s possible to file for registration on your own, professional IP consulting ensures your application meets all requirements, avoids common pitfalls, and aligns with your broader brand protection strategy. Our experienced team is here to make the process clear, efficient, and stress-free.

Design rights are often considered as an afterthought in comparison to trademarks and patents. However, design rights should be front of mind for all those designing new products, whether it is a new medical device, cologne, an app, or a fancy corkscrew. Design rights can be valuable both as a commercial asset and as protection from infringement.

When considering where to file for registered design rights, you will need to look at which countries you make or sell to or are likely to make or sell to in the future. It is important to tailor your IP protection and filing strategy for your individual business requirements and business strategy. There is no one size fits all approach.