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PROTECT YOUR INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS
Registering designs – the looks, aesthetics, visual impression – is a great way to protect your innovative products. Many designs can be covered in the same application and we can identify how to take advantage of the flexible filing options. The registration certificate can be issued within months, so there is less waiting than with other types of IP.
We will help you use design registration to supplement the shield around your products. And cost-wise this might be the best value way to keep the competition from copying your carefully crafted design work. Often patent and design protection can be used together and we can investigate and advise on the best combination.
Our Specialist Design Attorneys
Recent design projects we have worked on include a motorcycle helmet, an anti-snoring device, a toilet seat, a beer dispenser, a wine cooler and a road-safety device. The looks of almost everything can appeal to the eye. Better to ask whether your product qualifies for potential design protection – the answer may well be it does, and the protection may be invaluable!
Recent Insights
Read the latest insights from the Schlich team reporting recent cases and updates to design law.
Can vacuum cleaner bags be protected by design registration?
The Board of Appeal of the EUIPO has concluded that vacuum clear bags are entitled to design protection and are not excluded as complex products. This decision seems to confirm that consumable products are eligible for design protection.
Changes to Australian Design Law
Overview Although there are many similarities between Australian design law and that in the EU, the Australian system (“The Commonwealth of Australia’s Designs Act 2003”) has been somewhat outdated in comparison. For example: No grace period was available to designers. No prior user exemption to infringement was available. No right of an exclusive licensee to […]
Registering Designs in China
Partial Designs Previously, Chinese design law excluded the protection of partial designs, i.e. portions of a product that cannot be partitioned or sold and used independently. Instead, designs could only be registered for the appearance of a product in its entirety. However, the registration of partial designs will be allowed in China after 1 June […]
Is Your IP Ready For Brexit?
A summary of the changes for 2021 and key points for right holders to note are provided below. Patents and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) The UK’s membership of the European Patent Convention and the ability for UK attorneys to represent clients before the European Patent Office is unchanged. Business as usual here! Supplementary Protection Certificates […]
Protecting your IP on Online Marketplaces
Most of the schemes discussed below are based on companies having registered IP rights. However, some protection is also offered for copyright works. Schlich is able to assist companies in establishing IP rights so that they can use these facilities to protect their intellectual property or in escalating matters if that becomes necessary. For more […]
CJEU confirms that copyright can subsist in products whose shape is, at least in part, necessary to obtain a technical result
Background Back in 2017, Brompton Bicycle Ltd (‘Brompton’), who manufacture the famous Brompton bicycle which adopts three different positions and thus can be folded away when not in use, brought an action before the tribunal de l’entreprise de Liège in Belgium seeking a ruling that Get2Get’s bicycles infringe their copyright. By way of defence, Get2Get […]
Brexit and IP: An Update
There has been much discussion over the past few years on the effect of Brexit on intellectual property rights within the UK. The precise outcomes were, for a long time, unknown due to the uncertainty regarding the type of Brexit that would be delivered. It is now clear that the UK will leave the EU […]
UKIPO updates Brexit guidance
The updated guidance note on Brexit and IP provided by the UKIPO makes it clear that the aim of the Government is still for Brexit to cause as little disruption as possible with respect to IP rights. However, despite a ‘no-deal’ Brexit being voted down earlier this month, the vote is not binding and under […]
Get in touch
Our team of UK and European Patent Attorneys and Chartered Trade Mark Attorneys are highly knowledgeable and experienced in assisting clients with all aspects of their IP needs.
Contact us now to find out more about how we could help you and your business.
