Doing business successfully starts with registration

"Protecting the exterior of a product is like car insurance. It costs a bit of money but then, should something happen, it is a blessing. It gives you something with which to take any legal action that might be necessary.”

Design law is a specialist field

Optimum protection of your designs involves all kinds of practical and legal issues. This applies right from the time of registration. You will have to establish which products can be protected as designs, whether the design is new and has an individual character, whether previous rights exist and how the associated risks should be assessed, how the design should be depicted, on the one hand to ensure the broadest possible protection for the main characteristics and, on the other hand, to lay down the exceptional details as well, whether other manifestations are imaginable and, if so, whether it is worth to arrange separate protection for these. Moreover you will have to establish whether the party in whose name the application is carried out is also the actual designer and, if not, how the mutual rights of the applicant and designer are arranged. These are all issues which are crucial for the successful protection of your designs.

The situation is even more complicated if you also want to protect your designs outside the Benelux territory. Various systems are available and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is not easy to choose the form of protection which best suits your specific circumstances. Other complications can arise if, for example, you want to transfer (sell) your design to another party, issue another party with a licence or give your design in pledge to the bank. In such instances it is vital that all the proper legal arrangements are made.

Moreover, if you ever become involved in a conflict due to a party infringing your rights or because another party believes that you are infringing its rights, you may even have to take legal steps. In the event of legal proceedings, you will usually be obliged to engage the services of a lawyer or solicitor

The protection of designs and other intellectual property rights is, in short, a specialist field. A great many companies do not have the necessary specialist knowledge and it is a good idea, therefore, to seek assistance from an expert.