UK: Protect Your Logos and Designs at Price You Can Afford

Does your business have a new logo, a new product or new packaging? If so, one of the best and most cost-effective methods to prevent others from copying it is to register it as a design. Following the introduction of the Community Design earlier this year, you may well be able - easily, quickly and cheaply - to register your new design throughout the European Union ("EU").

In the UK, and/or in the EU, you can register the appearance of a product (or part of it) or its decoration. You can also register the appearance of packaging or even logos.

Your design must be "new": ie it must not have been made available to the public. However, there is a 12 month "grace period": any public disclosures in the 12 months before you apply will be ignored. So, you can conduct "test marketing" of your new design before deciding whether to register.

Also, your design must have "individual character": ie it must give an "informed user" an overall impression different from that of existing designs. (In practice, this will not be a difficult test for your design to pass).

There are some exclusions: for example, functional features cannot be registered.

A registered design will help you to prevent others from copying your new design. It will last for 25 years (as long as you renew it every 5 years). Other forms of legal protection (such as copyright or unregistered design right) may apply automatically, but these offer less broad protection than a registered design. If your design is for a logo, then you may also be able to register that logo as your trade mark – but this is more costly and time-consuming than design registration (see below: "What will it cost me?").

The Design Registry’s official fees for registering a design in the UK alone are just £60. Ideally, however, you should register your design in all countries in which you trade, or may do so. A new Community Design is now available: for official fees of just €350 (about £245), you can protect your design in all 15 countries (soon, 25) of the EU. (This compares very favourably with the cost of applying to register a logo as a trade mark. (The official fees for registering a Community Trade Mark are €2075 - about £1450).

You should send the relevant forms and payment to either the UK Patent Office or the Community Designs Registry in Spain, together with depictions of your design (usually, line drawings or photographs). Pictons’ Intellectual Property/Information Technology Team can help you make your application.

Your design will be examined to ensure it meets the requirements for registration. If it does, you can expect to obtain your registration within 4 to 6 months.

Registering your designs is a great opportunity for your business to enhance the value of your rights – to take that opportunity, act now!

©Pictons 2003. First published in Pictons' "In the Know" email newsletter.

Pictons Solicitors is regulated by the Law Society. The information in this article is correct at the time of publication in December 2003. Every care is taken in the preparation of this Article. However, no responsibility can be accepted to any person who acts on the basis of information contained in it. You are recommended to obtain specific advice in respect of individual cases.