What Is Industrial Design?
Industrial design protects the visual aspects of a product or part of it. To qualify for protection, the design must possess distinctive external characteristics, which may include the product’s shape, contours, colors, texture, and/or materials, as well as the appearance of its ornaments.
What Objects Can Receive Industrial Design Protection?
With few exceptions, nearly any industrial or craft product can be protected by industrial design as long as it is new and original.
In addition to entire products and parts of composite products, industrial design protection can also extend to packaging, web designs, logos, graphic designs, fonts, computer icons, maps, and more.
Some famous examples of industrial design include Vespa scooters, Mini Cooper cars, Hermès Kelly bags, Apple products, and the iconic contours of Coca-Cola bottles.
How Long Is My Design Protected?
Successful registration grants protection for an initial term of 10 years. After this period, the protection can be renewed up to three times, each for an additional 5 years, making the maximum duration of protection 25 years.
Image: NanoStock, Getty Images
