Protecting your designs

 

It is possible to register your logo, products get-up and packaging. So, whenever a new product is being formulated, always check in advance that there are no similar designs or patents already registered so that you are not infringing someone else’s rights, and also to ensure that your design is original enough to be registered.

 

Design registration is available for designs that have individual character. Registration is granted initially for a 5 years period, and is renewable for up to a maximum of 25 years. The person who can apply to register a design is the creator of the design, except where the creator is your employee, or where you commission the design from a freelancer or design company, in which case you are regarded as the first owner of the rights in the design, and may register. However, beware of design companies’ terms of business as some of them reverse this rule and claim the first owner rights for the designer, which means the designs, are not yours to register.

 

Copyright also protects designs, for example documents detailing the design as well as any artistic work incorporated within the finished product. Copyright and unregistered design rights provide similar forms of protection for your designs in that you acquire copyright or design rights in your logo or labels without having to take any steps to obtain the rights. The owner of a design right can prevent unauthorised copying. However, where disputes arise over copying, the owner of an unregistered design right is vulnerable to the necessity of proving who first produced the design or work, and that it was independently created. For this reason it is advisable to register your designs, or at the very least to keep evidence of your work or design throughout its creation, rather than just keeping the finished product.

 

There is an overlap between trade marks and designs in that your device marks and logos may be registered as designs as well as trade marks. Whether to register both for rights or just one is a matter on which you will need to take advice on a case by case basis. Some of the factors to consider are that the design registration process is quicker and cheaper than the trade mark registration system. Design registration provides wider protection, but is subject to a maximum 25 year term, whereas trade marks can be renewed indefinitely.

By Martin Huckle