Designs

As part of the UK Government’s strategy to rebound the economy through the success of knowledge-led high skill businesses, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has launched a new IP Access fund as an extension of the existing IP Audit Plus programme. This new fund, which offers grants of up...

  Registered designs are a cost-effective form of IP protection that enables the physical appearance of a product to be protected from use by competitors. The scope of protection is determined by the images, or representations, of the product in the design registration and it is down to the applicant...

  Registered designs exist to protect the aesthetic appearance of products, and as such European Community design law was drafted so as to exclude protection for certain aspects of appearance that would allow for monopolies to be created around purely functional designs. Recent decision T-515/19 by the General Court considered...

  This article was originally published by New Designers. Follow this link to read the full article. There’s a lot to think about when launching a new product – co-ordinating manufacturers, finding stockists and of course marketing. Intellectual property is, perhaps understandably, not front of mind at such a time....

  A recent decision of the UK High Court illustrates reasons why it is often preferable to register your designs rather than relying on unregistered design protection alone. Rothy’s Inc, and subsequently Giesswein Walkwaren AG, both marketed “ballet flat”-type shoes made from knitted recycled plastic, a material not previously used...