Designs

Protecting creations

Lavoix defines design protection strategies that help to assert the identity and image of the brand.

Lavoix advises you in defining the strategy for the protection, commercialisation, defence, optimisation, and monitoring of your designs.

To protect and defend them effectively, Lavoix offers you the following services:

Prior art searches
Optimising design portfolio management
Defining the filing strategy in terms of territories covered and protection instruments

Design monitoring
Technical preparation of the filing
Monitoring of renewal procedures
Monitoring of review procedures
Various entries in national, international and foreign registries
Commercialisation of designs (licences, etc.),

FAQ

What is a design/a model?

A design protects the appearance of a product or part of a product, characterized in particular by its lines, contours, colors, shape, texture, or materials.

It may be a two-dimensional element (design), such as labels, ornaments and patterns, icons and interfaces, or a three-dimensional element (model) relating to the product itself, its packaging/bottle, an interior or exterior space layout, etc.

The owner holds an exclusive right (monopoly) over their registered design, which cannot be used without their consent.

What are the criteria for protecting designs?

The protection of a design is subject to two essential validity conditions:

Novelty: A design is considered new if, at the date of filing (or priority), “no identical design or model has been disclosed.”
Individual character : “the design or model must create a different overall visual impression on the informed observer compared to designs disclosed before the filing (or priority) date.”

What cannot be protected as a design?

A design that lacks novelty or individual character cannot be protected, nor can a model whose features are exclusively dictated by the technical function of the product, or whose exact shape and dimensions must necessarily be reproduced to allow mechanical connection with another product (interconnecting parts).

Any element that is contrary to public policy or morality will also not be eligible for protection.

How to protect my designs?

Identify which shapes, patterns, product/packaging presentations are new and on which you wish to acquire a monopoly.
Do not disclose these elements in any way before filing (novelty requirement).
Verify, with the assistance of your Industrial Property Attorney, that your creations have not already been filed or disclosed by a third party and that they meet the validity criteria mentioned above (conduct searches among existing designs and documentary research).
Develop a filing strategy with your Industrial Property Attorney: which part of the product should be protected? In which countries should you file and how? What type of representations should be chosen to optimize protection (black and white or color, photographs or drawings, etc.).
Prepare representations that allow the shape of the model to be understood, in the form of line drawings, photographs, or computer-generated images, complying with the criteria set by the offices, with the help of your Industrial Property Attorney.
File your design according to the defined strategy and follow the examination procedures until registration, with the help of your Industrial Property Attorney.
Set up monitoring systems, including customs monitoring or online and marketplace monitoring, to be alerted and respond quickly in case of suspected counterfeiting.

How long does design protection last?

In the European Union, the term of protection for a design is 5 years from the filing date, renewable four times for a maximum duration of 25 years.
This protection is subject to the payment of renewal fees every 5 years.

Lavoix supports you in all your design filing procedures, including post-filing follow-up and throughout the life of your design & model.
For any questions, feel free to contact us.