Design

Design Protection/Designs in General

When the aesthetic product has reached its final design form in the creative process, the question of legal protection for this design immediately follows. Design law is at the forefront here.

Registration of Designs

We are happy to advise and support you in the area of protection and registration of designs (still called “Geschmacksmuster” in the EU) as well as in defending your rights, in case of accidental infringement of older rights and in seizures of goods from rights infringers.

Registration

With the registration of a national, European or international design (design patent) with DPMA, EuIPO or WIPO, the aesthetic product receives comprehensive protection. Under certain conditions, parts of products can also be protected.

Apart from the unregistered Community design, which only protects pure identity, design protection generally only arises with the application, more precisely: the registration of a design. Therefore, especially with successful creative achievements, there is often a danger that imitators can copy the work results with impunity.

Considering that the registration of designs can be obtained very cost-effectively, and there is even a “quantity discount” for collective applications of product ideas from one product group (e.g., lamps as a collective term for various applications, plastic packaging as a collective term for various packaging designs made of plastic), it is quite surprising that not more product ideas are registered.

Engaging a specialist lawyer for intellectual property rights helps to avoid mistakes that can lead to delays or even loss of rights.

Consequences of a Missing Design Registration:

Often, in the case of imitation, creative inventors painfully experience that a copy cannot be easily prevented if they have not initiated a registration in time, i.e., for designs within one year after the first presentation to the public or potential customers.

The protection requirements are remarkably simple to fulfill:

– You need a product idea that can be embodied in a design (in other words: a novel design)
– The design requires “novelty” at the time of application (i.e., you must register it at the latest 1 year after the first presentation to customers or the public)

As a specialist lawyer for intellectual property rights based in Frankfurt, we are happy to advise and support you in advance of the application process and represent you in the registration of national, European and international designs before the DPMA in Munich and Jena, the EuIPO in Alicante/Spain and WIPO in Geneva/Switzerland.

Legal Defense and Enforcement of Own Rights

As a specialist lawyer based in Frankfurt, we defend your registered (and unregistered) designs against imitators and other infringers for you.

Should you ever be attacked yourself, we will examine the legitimacy of the attack and support you in your defense.

The advice from our law firm is competent, interest-oriented, and targeted.

Upon request, we represent you before all German courts (except the Federal Court of Justice), especially also before the specialized courts for industrial property rights.

Also when contacting authorities, especially the customs authorities in the case of an intended seizure of imitations that are supposed to be delivered from outside the EU to Germany, we are happy to help and support you. This can often prevent the goods from being imported into the European Economic Area in the first place. Because: Once the imitation is in the country, it is often too late.

Your Lawyer at Trade Fairs (Frankfurt, Rhine/Main, Nationwide)

Effective legal protection is also important at trade fairs and exhibitions. As specialized lawyers and a specialist lawyer for intellectual property rights, we come to trade fairs and exhibitions upon request, especially, but not only in Frankfurt and the Rhine/Main area, and carry out cease and desist orders, obtain preliminary injunctions, arrange and monitor the removal of design copies from the exhibition stand and advise you in advance as well as during customs-conducted fair tours for customs seizure of infringing exhibits.

Similar Legal Areas and Overlaps

In addition to design protection, copyright or trademark protection should be considered for design creations if the corresponding requirements are met. In connection with your registered design, we also provide comprehensive advice on copyright and trademark law issues.