Understanding Registered Designs
A registered design is a form of legal protection that focuses on the visual appearance of a product rather than its function. It includes features like the shape, configuration, pattern, and ornamentation that make a product stand out. This is particularly valuable in industries where aesthetics play a central role in consumer decision-making, such as fashion, furniture, packaging, and electronics.
This form of intellectual property protection helps businesses secure the exclusive rights to their product’s appearance, reducing the risk of imitation and enhancing the distinctiveness of their offerings. For companies seeking to build a recognizable and trusted brand, having a registered design can serve as a strategic business asset.
Benefits of Registering a Design
Registering your design brings a number of clear advantages:
- Exclusive Use: You gain the legal right to exclude others from making, using and selling the design, giving you a competitive edge in the marketplace.
- Prevention of Copycats: A registered design sends a strong signal to potential infringers that your product’s appearance is legally protected, discouraging imitation.
- Enforceable Rights: Once the design is certified, you can take legal action against anyone who copies or uses your design without permission.
- Brand Value and Recognition: A distinct and protected design reinforces your brand identity and can increase the perceived value of your products.
- Commercial Leverage: Registered designs can be sold or licensed, creating new revenue streams and increasing your business’s valuation.
The Registration and Certification Process
In Australia, registering a design is a two-stage process:
- Registration: The first step is to file an application with clear representations of the design. If the application meets formal requirements, the design is officially registered.
- Certification: Registration alone does not give you enforceable rights. You must request an examination to certify the design. This process evaluates whether your design is new and distinctive compared to existing designs.
Only after certification can you enforce your rights through legal channels.
Why Working with a Patent Attorney Helps
Navigating the registration and certification process can be complex, particularly when assessing whether your design meets the criteria of novelty and distinctiveness. Consulting a qualified patent attorney provides peace of mind. They can guide you through the necessary steps, handle submissions, and ensure your design is robustly protected.
Having professional support can also improve the chances of successful certification and enforcement if a dispute arises. Whether you’re launching a new product or expanding an existing line, legal expertise can be invaluable.
Protecting the Look That Sets You Apart
Design matters. Whether it’s the sleek curve of a bottle, the unique contours of a chair, or the bold graphics of a package, the visual elements of your product can be key to its success. Registering your design secures those elements as part of your business strategy and gives you the tools to defend what makes your products unique.
Part of a broader Intellectual Property Strategy
Design registration sits along side other intellectual property rights including patents, trade mark registrations and copyright. Routinely individual products are covered by multiple intellectual property rights each providing a different layer of protection, e.g. a single electronic product may be covered by:
- a registered design protecting the overall look of the product;
- a patent protecting certain function details;
- trade mark registrations protecting the name and logo on the product; and
- copyright protecting the code embedded in the electronics.
These intellectual property rights are tools that when used thoughtfully can keep the imitators at bay so that you are the one to reap the benefits of your innovation.
