Designs are well defined in the European Union:
‘The appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation’. Article 3 of the Design Regulation
The USPTO gives the following definition for US designs:
In a design patent application, the subject matter which is claimed is the design embodied in or applied to an article of manufacture (or portion thereof) and not the article itself. The design for an article consists of the visual characteristics embodied in or applied to an article. Since a design is manifested in appearance, the subject matter of a design patent application may relate to the configuration or shape of an article, to the surface ornamentation applied to an article, or to the combination of configuration and surface ornamentation. Design is inseparable from the article to which it is applied and cannot exist alone merely as a scheme of surface ornamentation. It must be a definite, preconceived thing, capable of reproduction and not merely the chance result of a method.
Our services include, but are not limited to the following activities:
- Filing and prosecuting national and international design applications up to registration
- Invalidation and infringement proceedings
- Expert opinions
- Searches
- Litigation support
- Legal consulting.
Please contact us for additional information.