Design Protection Workshop15 January 2013

Peter Arrowsmith & Yasmine Hashim

Main types of Intellectual Property

• Trade Marks• Patents• Copyright• Designs

Main types of Intellectual Property

Trade Marks•Identifies trade origin of a product•Must be distinctive and non-descriptive•Potentially unlimited duration

Main types of Intellectual Property

Patents•Protects technical inventions•Must be novel and non-obvious•Lasts 20 years•UK/National rights

Main types of Intellectual Property

Copyright•Protects original works •70 years from death of designer•Limited protection for 3D shapes•No requirement for registration

Main types of Intellectual Property

Designs

Registered – Registered Community designs

UK / national registrations

Unregistered - Unregistered Community design (UCD)

UK design right

Overview of IP

HENRY/HETTY/NUMATIC

Patents

Designs

Vacuum cleaner

bag positioner

Trade Marks

Copyright

What do we mean by a design?

Plot Configuration Drawing Something decorative

Shape Sketch SchemeSomething artistic

Definition of design

Legal definition (within Europe):

“A design means the of the or a p of a resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation.”

appearance part

wholeproduct

Benefits of a registered design

…over a unregistered design

•Defined asset/property

•Visible deterrent

•Easier to enforce – no proof of copying required

•Lasts longer

•Buys you time

Requirements for protection

Registrable designs must:•Be new•Have individual character•Not be excluded

Novelty

• A design is new if no identical design has been made available to the public before the filing date

• Designs shall be deemed to be identical if their features differ only in immaterial details

• A twelve month grace period applies to your own disclosures

• The grace period allows the design to be tested on the market before an application is filed (but should be used with caution)

Individual Character

• A design has individual character if the it it produces on an differs from the overall impression produced on such a user by any design that has been made available to the public before the filing date

• The degree of freedom of the designer shall be taken into consideration

• The aspects that confer individual character on a design are different in each case

overall impression informed user

Exclusions

• Features dictated solely by technical function

• “Must-fit” designs

• Component parts of complex products are excluded, unless visible in normal use

Application process

• UK vs Community designs

• No examination for novelty and individual character

• Design representations should be considered carefully

• Multiple applications

• Other countries

• 25 years of protection, renewable every 5 years

Scope of protection

• The holder of the design has the exclusive right to make, offer, put on the market, import, export or stock the design

• The scope of protection includes any design which does not produce a different overall impression on the informed user

• The degree of freedom of the designer shall be taken into consideration

Scope of protection

Scope of protection

What have Apple protected?

Case Studies

Case Studies

Case Studies

Case Studies

Case Studies

Case Studies

What about Google?

Case Studies

Case Studies

What about Facebook?

Take home points

Registered designs

•Potentially valuable asset•Easy to get

•Low cost

•Put competitors off

•Consider as part of IP portfolio of rights