According to the industrial design law, a design is a two or three dimensional appearance of a whole product or a part of the product. A design is composed of features such as lines, contours, colors, shape, surface structure or the material of the product itself or its embellishment. Features of a product that are due to its technical function only, are not protected by industrial design law.
Two and three dimensional designs, including typographical characters, which are not protectable by patent or utility model law due to the technical nature of these IP rights, can be protected as design patents. A design patent protects the visual impression of a product on the informed user whereas a patent or utility model protects its technical features.
Protection of industrial designs can be secured by application and registration with the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) or with any national patent office, depending on the country or geographical region for which protection is sought. The responsible office only examines formal requirements of the application, but neither novelty nor individuality of the design. Whether a design meets these requirements will only be determined in a law suits when the opponent questions novelty and individuality of the design.
We assist you in finding out which protection strategy might be interesting for you and establishing the same. We help you select suitable pictures for the application and submit the same with the responsible offices. After your design has been registered, we monitor its term and will remind you in due time of its renewal.