Design patents  - Blue balls in a box

Know-how in registered design law

The innovative design of a product can be protected as a design patent or registered design if the design conveys an overall aesthetic impression that is distinct from all other previously known designs. The holder of a design patent or registered design can demand that any party that imitates the design cease and desist and pay damages.

A drawing or photograph of the design can be used to submit a design patent or registered design application. The design must in all cases be presented against a neutral background and, if possible, from multiple different perspectives (in some countries, as many as seven different views of a specific design are required).

Depending on where you wish to protect your design, you have various options:

  • German design patent or registered design,
  • European Community design,
  • Internationally registered design, and/or
  • National design patent or registered design in a country other than Germany, either in Europe or elsewhere.

Most competent authorities merely review the purely formal prerequisites for registration of a design patent or design. If the design patent or design is approved for registration, the initial term of protection is five years from the date of registration. Depending on the jurisdiction, however, this protection can be extended for another five years as many as four times.

Our services in design patent and registered design law

The services we offer in design patent and registered design law cover all activities in this field.

In particular, we offer the following services in connection with design patents and registered designs:

  • Implementation and analysis of design research
  • Drafting design patent and registered design applications
  • Submitting
    • German design applications to the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA),
    • Community design applications to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO),
    • international design applications (submitting applications to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs),
    • national design patent and registered design applications in any country around the world in cooperation with appropriately qualified local colleagues.
  • Implementation of the registration and review procedure before the relevant authorities in Germany and in other countries, right up to the registration of the design
  • Advice on matters of design patent or registered design strategy
  • Management of design patent or registered design portfolios
  • Monitoring and payment of renewal fees (fee monitoring)
  • Defending design patents and registered designs in opposition and cancellation proceedings
  • Enforcing design patent and design rights against infringers
  • Monitoring design patent and registered design applications by your competitors
  • Implementing cancellation proceedings against your competitors’ design patents or registered designs

Contact

Please do not hesitate to contact us anytime if you have further questions regarding design patents, registered designs, or the services we offer in this field.

Contact us