"How do I protect a design?"

Designs

In this rubric, the basics regarding Intellectual Property will be explained. #YouAskWeAnswer. We have shifted our focus from trademarks to designs.

The legislation for designs stipulates that a design must be registered to qualify for protection. You may apply for design registration in each country. By filing one application, you can also obtain a right in different countries, for example:

The Benelux countries.
The European Union, where registration offers protection in all member-states (the EU Design).
International registration based on the The Hague Agreement, where you can single out those countries in which you seek protection. There are two possibilities:

A) Geneva Act (1999) with the European Union: OAPI (African IP organisation), Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France (including all overseas territories), Georgia, Ghana, Hungary, Iceland, Croatia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldavia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, Norway, Ukraine, Oman, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Sao Tomé and Principe, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey and Switzerland.

B) The Hague Act (1960) with the Benelux countries: Albania, Belize, Benin, Bulgaria, Democratic People’s Republic of (North) Korea, Germany, France, Gabon, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Mali, Morocco, Moldavia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Niger, Ukraine, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Suriname and Switzerland.

Highlighted

"What is a design?" A design is about shape. According to the law, design is the ‘appearance of a product or part thereof’ where product is taken to mean ‘any item manufactured industrially or traditionally.’ The appearance is largely determined by features such as lines, outline, colours, shape, texture and materials of the product or its decoration. Examples include toys, tools, packaging, (domestic) appliances, furniture, clothing, fabric designs, etc. Less widely known is the fact that fonts, graphic symbols, interiors and logos can also be considered designs. Features of designs which only have a technical function are not protected by design rights.