Industrial designs are tools to protect the appearance of products such as industrial or craft objects, packaging, graphic symbols and typefaces, graphical user interfaces and website layouts.
Appearance can consist of lines, contours, colors, the shape of the surface structure and/or the materials of the product and/or its ornament, key factors in determining the appeal and success of a product on the market, in any product sector.
Customs surveillance and actions are one of the most effective and least expensive means against counterfeiting. We assist our clients at every stage of the procedure, from the filing of the application with the Customs to its renewal, as well as the management of each notification issued by the Customs.
By means of due diligence, we perform analyses of a design portfolio before it is the object of commercial transactions, verifying the status of the rights from a legal point of view as well as their scope of protection.
Earlier designs may hinder freedom to operate or registration of a design of interest. Therefore, before using a new design, it is advisable to perform a prior art search and carry out a thorough analysis of any interference risks.
We adopt several systems for monitoring counterfeiting on the web. Through the use of sophisticated software for recognizing and comparing images, we can detect the presence of products interfering with our clients’ registered designs and request the removal of such products from the web.
We assist our clients in the Community Design invalidation procedure. Invalidation is an important tool in commercial competition strategies, as it allows you to cancel or defend a registered design, respectively gaining the possibility of adopting the contested design or reinforcing the value in terms of validity of your title.
We offer a wide range of surveillance services for design applications filed by competitors and prosecution of such designs in the relevant countries. This monitoring of competitors results in the possibility of taking prompt actions against third parties’ rights and avoiding possible interference.
We prepare design applications aimed at the registration procedure in all countries, significantly reducing the associated costs and limiting the risks of rejection. This activity is the result of a mix of legal and procedural knowledge allowing us to produce drawings that meet as much as possible the non-harmonized requirements for their validity.
Before launching a new product on the market or enforcing it against third parties, having an overview of the existing prior art that could frustrate creative and economic efforts is essential. Information on the existing designs in the relevant sector is useful to identify the available scope of protection and freedom to operate. With our experience, we identify the best strategy for a prior art search that can guide investments in research and development.
We support our clients in identifying the best strategies for prosecuting design applications before preparing them so as to obtain a wide and effective scope of protection with lower costs.
