A registered design is a registered intellectual property (“IP”) right which, protects what something looks like. A registered design allows the holder to stop third parties from using, selling, making etc., something which looks the same as the registered design in the country or countries in which they hold that registered design.
Protection can be obtained for the appearance of a product, which may result from the product’s shape, colours, contours, texture and surface decoration. It is possible to obtain registered design protection for part of a product, graphic symbols, product get-up, packaging and typefaces. If you want to protect the way something works, then a patent would be more suitable. If you want to protect branding or a company name, then registered trade mark protection would be more appropriate.Our other guides (which can be found on our website) can provide further details on these other types of protection.
