Design Law

Design law and drawing law pertains to an exclusive right to applied art.
All kinds of objects or motifs (photo/drawings) on a design may be protected by a design right. For example, shoes, lamps, furniture, clothes designs, tools, packaging or household items. Do you have a design or drawing that needs to be protected? Ask us for advice and send an email to info@flib.nl or call us on +31 (0) 205 210 130. We constantly deal with design law, allowing us to quickly gain insight into your options.

Such an industrial design must be a new design. It may involve all kinds of designs or drawings, and there is an international design classification (i.e. classification by description – search online), therefore. Would you like assistance with using model depot? Give us a call.

We perform EU design searches for designs or drawings and can organise design registration in the Benelux, the EU and/or at international level. The design may relate to many aspects: the shape of the clothes (fashion), toys, all kinds of holders/storage furniture, the drawing on packaging, the shape of packaging, but also a reduction of a cruise ship to toy boat or the appearance of a game (toy law).

Does the question arise whether the actual creator is the party holding the rights to the design, or does the client hold the rights? Is there an infringement, imitation (near-imitation)? Are you accused of imitation? Please contact us, without obligation on +31 (0) 35 62 23 340.

European design law protects an unregistered design for 3 years and a registered design for up to 25 years. The purpose of registration is to record the date of application and the owner(s). There is no doubt about this, unless it is a sham owner or not a new design. But what about spare parts of products that are no longer manufactured? A design right can be registered with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO, previously OHIM), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or a national intellectual property organisation.

Furthermore, copyright can play an important role in addition to the trade dress, trademark and/or the design right. Another basis is slavish imitation; a wrongful act.