Industrial Design
An
Industrial Design is the ornamental aspect of a useful article which may be
constituted by three-dimensional elements such as the shape of the article or
two-dimensional elements such as lines, designs, patterns and colors. It is the right to protect the ornamental,
non-functional features of an article or product that arise from a Design
Activity.
Industrial design is one of the key
factors that attracts us to a product, or leads us to prefer using one product
over another. Industrial designs make a product attractive and appealing to
customers, the appearance of a product can influence the consumer’s purchase
decision. In other words, the success or failure of a product highly depend on
how it looks. Industrial designs are therefore very important for both small-
and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger companies alike.
Industrial designs are applied to a wide
variety of products of industry and handicraft items: from packages and
containers to furnishing and household goods, from lighting equipment to
jewelry, and from electronic devices to textiles. Industrial designs are also
relevant to graphic symbols, graphical user interfaces (GUI), and logos.
Please see 25 inspiring examples of
industrial design at https://www.creativebloq.com/product-design/examples-industrial-design-12121488
Registering
industrial designs
An Industrial Design is registrable if it fulfils
some or all of the following criteria: novelty/originality. The assessment of novelty and originality
varies from country to country. The rights to registration of an Industrial
Design belong to the Creator. Protection
of an industrial design means that the owner of a registered industrial design
or of a design patent has the right to prevent third parties from making,
selling or importing articles bearing or embodying a design which is a copy, or
substantially a copy, of the protected design, when such acts are undertaken
for commercial purposes.
The Standing Committee on the Law of
Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) is the forum by
WIPO to address issues relating to the development of the international legal
framework for industrial designs. SCT members are currently seeking agreement
on a number of key issues relating to international designs. At present, no “international” industrial
design right exists.
Industrial design rights are territorial;
the rights are limited to the country or region where protection is granted. In order to obtain industrial design protection
in other countries, an application for the registration of an industrial design
or for the grant of a patent for an industrial design must be filed in each
country where protection is sought, in accordance with the law of that country. To avoid having to submit applications in
each and every country where protection is sought, WIPO’s Hague System is
useful. The Hague System for the
International Registration of Industrial Designs helps registering up to 100
designs in 74 contracting parties covering 91 countries, through the filing of
one single international application.
Industrial design rights are usually
enforced in a court. The remedies and penalties vary from country to country
and could be civil, criminal or administrative.
In most countries, industrial designs are
protected under industrial design law as a “registered design” while in some
countries, industrial designs are protected under patent law as “design patents”. Industrial design registrations or design
patents are granted by the IP office of the country (or region) where an
application is filed.
Industrial design laws in some countries
grant time and scope limited protection without registration and they are
“unregistered industrial designs”. Depending
on the particular national law and the kind of design, industrial designs may
also be protected as works of art under copyright law.
Industrial design rights are granted for a
limited period. The duration of the protection of industrial designs varies
from country to country, but in general it is at least to 10 years. In many
countries, the duration of protection is divided into successive renewable
periods.
The Hague System
The Hague System for the International
Registration of Industrial Designs helps registering up to 100 designs in 74
contracting parties covering 91 countries, through the filing of one single
international application, by filing one application in one language, with one
set of fees.
Global Design Database
The Global Design database enables simultaneous
searches via a single, intuitive interface across all international industrial
designs registered under The Hague System.
Hague Express database
The Hague Express database provides
information, updated weekly, on current and past industrial designs registered
under The Hague System.
The Locarno Classification
The Locarno Classification is an
international system used to classify goods for the purposes of the
registration of industrial designs.
Difference
between industrial design and patent: 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. An industrial design right does not protect the technical or
functional features of a product. Such features are protected by a patent.
Importance
of protecting an industrial design
The protection of industrial designs is an
integral part of any business strategy and the main reasons are:
·
Protection contributes to obtaining a
return on investments made in creating and marketing attractive and innovative
products.
·
Protection provides exclusive rights for
at least 10 years, so as to prevent or stop others from commercially exploiting
or copying the industrial design.
·
Industrial designs is an important element
of a company’s brand name and protecting industrial designs contributes to
protecting a company’s brand.
·
Protection provides rights that may be
sold or licensed to another enterprise, and act as a source of income for the
owner of the rights.
·
Protection helps convey a positive image
of a company and increase the market value of a company and its products.
·
Protecting industrial designs rewards and
encourages creativity.
If we don’t protect the industrial design
then competitors may take a product to market, incorporating the industrial
design without getting our permission. In
such a situation we will have no legal rights to fight them, since our design
is not registered. This could reduce the market share for the product in
question and harm both the firm’s reputation and products.
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