The importance of design registration
Registering a design is a legal action that protects the aesthetic features of a product or part of it, such as lines, contours, colors, and shapes. In order to be registrable, a design must be new and have individual character. This protection grants the creator the exclusive right to use it, safeguarding the value of their innovation.
Exclusive Rights and Legal Protection
Brunacci & Partners assists its clients throughout all stages of design registration, both in Italy and internationally. Our goal is to enhance the product's aesthetics and ensure adequate protection, tailoring each strategy to the specific needs of the client and the regulations in force in different countries.
Exclusive Rights and Legal Protection
The registration of a design grants the holder the exclusive right to use it, preventing unauthorized third parties from exploiting it without consent. This protects the result of creative effort, ensuring a competitive advantage in the market and providing effective defense against potential counterfeiting.
Single or multiple design deposit?
There are two types of applications for design protection: the single filing application or the multiple filing application. With the latter, the applicant can file, with a single application for protection, multiple designs or models , provided that they all belong to the same class of the Locarno Classification .
For example, it is possible to file a multiple application for the registration of furnishing items such as a table and related chairs, because they belong to the same class, but not of a table and a lamp which, on the contrary, belong to different classes.
How long does design protection last?
The protection period for a design lasts 5 years from the date of filing the application. The protection can be renewed for multiple periods, up to a maximum of 25 years.
Is it possible to defend a design that has been in use for a long time, but has never been registered?
In the European Union, it is possible to register a design within 12 months from its first disclosure within the territory. The same rule applies to the registration of an Italian design. Once this period expires, both in Italy and in the European Union, the aesthetic features of a creation can be protected through the protection granted to unregistered designs, which lasts for 3 years from the first disclosure.
What does a design registration protect?
Design registration protects the aesthetic characteristics of a product or part of it, such as lines, contours, colors and shapes. Ornaments of the product itself, i.e. two-dimensional elements such as drawings, decorations, etc., can also be the object of design protection.
Two-dimensional and three-dimensional industrial products or handicraft products are considered registrable designs. Visible components such as graphic symbols, packaging, typographic characters or presentations that are novel and have an individual character can also be registered.
What is the difference between patent and design?
Registering a patent means protecting an invention capable of solving a technical problem. The solution may consist of any type of product, such as machinery, objects, or devices, or of processes that allow a specific product to be obtained.
Invention patents must meet certain requirements: they must be new, involve an inventive step, and be industrially applicable.
Registering a design, on the other hand, means protecting the aesthetic appearance of a product. Specifically, a model protects the shape of the product, while a design protects its pattern or decoration. To be registered, the design must be new—i.e., not identical or too similar to existing ones—and must differ in more than insignificant details.
