Designs explained

What is a design? A design is generally the physical appearance of the whole or part of a product..  A design is typically determined by the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture, or materials of the product, or its ornamentation.  Designs often make a product attractive and appealing to customers

Protecting a design Because a design contributes to the commercial value of a product, it should be protected.  A design may be automatically protected by an unregistered design right, which enables the owner of the design right to prevent others from copying the design.  A more effective form of design protection, however, is provided by a registered design.  In order to obtain a registered design, we will file a design application at the appropriate intellectual property office.  Once obtained, a registered design enables the owner to prevent others from using identical or similar designs, even if those designs were arrived at independently.

A lower cost solution Registered designs may be obtained at a much lower cost than patents, and are particularly effective at providing protection against identical copies of your product being introduced onto the market.  Furthermore, it is possible to obtain a European registered design, which covers all member states of the European Community in a very cost-effective way.

Where AdamsonJones comes in

AdamsonJones can advise on every aspect of design registration.  The most important aspects of our role are:

• advising on the design protection available for a particular product, including advising on strategies for obtaining effective registered design protection

• preparing registered design applications that meet the formal requirements of the relevant intellectual property offices, whilst seeking the broadest possible protection

• assisting with the maintenance of the registered design and advising on its enforcement in the event that the registered design is infringed by a competitor

In addition to obtaining registered designs, we can also advise you on how to avoid problems with infringement of your competitors' unregistered design rights and registered designs.  This ensures your freedom to commercialise your products.

Download guides For more information about unregistered and registered design rights, as well as associated procedures and costs, follow this link:

Basic guide - Designs

You may also find some of the links to external websites on our Useful Links page helpful.