Industrial Design

Industrial design law is a small category of the law, where the expertise of an industrial design lawyer is highly recommended. In medicine, all doctors are technically qualified to help you. However, when you have a specific problem, you want and need to see a specialist. The same principle is applicable with industrial design issues. In law, all lawyers went to law school to learn the law generally. However, industrial design law is a sub-category of intellectual property law. In fact, intellectual property is in itself is a sub-category of the law. Therefore, not all lawyers know the ins and…

Whether you are physically shipping across Canadian borders or transferring data via the web, wherever you have a competitive edge, there is someone or a business out there that is ready to imitate or “improve” your industrial design. By filing an industrial design application, you are staking your claim in your target markets to safeguard your sales and reputation. That is, you are ‘safeguarding’ your intellectual property rights to your industrial design. While not the same ‘thing’ as a patent, industrial designs are still a ‘category’ of intellectual property law. Canada belongs to several international intellectual property conventions for facilitating…

Prior to crossing the street, it’s recommended to look left and right. Doing so comes with no guarantee that an accident will not happen. However, it allows you to assess a life threatening risk and make an informed decision on whether or not to cross. Similarly, an industrial design search allows you to make an informed decision by learning what has already been registered and how your industrial design can be distinguished from other existing registrations. This proactive step can help save time and money in the long run. Our industrial design law firm located in Ottawa and Toronto strongly…

Industrial designs, similar to patents, must be novel designs. Part of ensuring novelty of your industrial design means keeping it confidential prior to applying for a registration. However, in Canada there is a one-year grace period to the non-disclosure requirement. In other words, as long as you apply to register your industrial design within one-year of public disclosure, your rights will remain protected. It is crucial that you protect the confidentiality of your industrial design. If you fall outside the one-year grace period, your industrial design will be not be registerable and you will be unable to acquire exclusive rights…

Yes, if any or part of your company’s success depends on its intellectual property from designing eye catching products, your company should obtain an industrial design registration. Without a proper intellectual property protection strategy, your company’s existence may be short-lived. With the proper intellectual property protection, your company will have exclusive rights to the industrial design. Industrial designs: can protect you against copying; can earn licensing revenues; may be used as leverage in negotiations; and may be used as a defence in intellectual property infringement litigation. Lastly, research has shown that ownership of registered intellectual property significantly increases the market…

An industrial design registration cannot protect: a functional aspect of your product (see patent); a design that is substantially similar to a registered industrial design; design features appearance or shape of a product that are not immediately visible to the eye (inside an engine).

This is a common question we get in our industrial design law practice, and how it differs from other forms of IP. Industrial designs are another form of intellectual property. An industrial design is sometimes called a design patent, and may consist of two-dimensional or three-dimensional features, a shape, a pattern, a line, a package, or a color. An industrial design can account for anything involving ornamental or aesthetic aspects of products, shapes and packaging. By protecting these ornate designs, creators can find security through their exclusive rights to do whatever they want with their original work. As such, we…