Industrial design registration – how to protect the look of your product?

Industrial design registration – how to protect the look of your product?

I have designed a product and I am worried that competitors will copy it. How can I protect myself? Can I patent my design?

These are questions we often hear from our Clients – both large companies and sole entrepreneurs.

The external appearance of a product – its design – can be effectively protected by an industrial design registration. Industrial designs are protected by a registration right, which is a completely different tool from a patent, although equally powerful in practice. There is no such thing in law as a “patent for a design”: patents protect inventions, while designs are not patented – they are registered.

​

What is an industrial design?

Under the new EU design law (REGULATION (EU) 2024/2822)

“design” means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features, in particular the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials, of the product itself and/or of its decoration, including the movement, transition or any other sort of animation of those features;

“product” means any industrial or handicraft item, other than a computer program, regardless of whether it is embodied in a physical object or materialises in a non-physical form, including:

1. packaging, sets of articles, spatial arrangements of items intended to form an interior or exterior environment, and parts intended to be assembled into a complex product;
2. graphic works or symbols, logos, surface patterns, typographic typefaces, and graphical user interfaces;

“complex product” means a product that is composed of multiple components which can be replaced, permitting disassembly and reassembly of the product.’

In practice, this broad notion of “product” covers, among others:

• Physical products – packaging, furniture, tools, electronics

• Graphic elements – symbols, logos in their visual (design) aspect

• Typefaces – specific shapes of letters and numbers

Importantly, the new EU design legislation (Regulation (EU) 2024/2822) extends protection to non‑physical forms such as animations, user interfaces and 3D digital models, which is a breakthrough for modern tech products.

​

Examples of industrial designs

Examples of registered designs include, for instance:

REUD-015111251-0002	REUD-015128004-0001	Rp.08232	REUD-015083501-0006

Where to register an industrial design?

There are three main routes – the choice is strategic and depends on your markets.

• National registration
  You can file your design with a national office, obtaining protection limited to that country (e.g. with the Polish Patent Office – UPRP – for protection in Poland only). A Polish company may also register its design directly in Germany or Italy, but will usually need a local patent attorney there.

• EU‑wide registration with EUIPO
  To protect a design throughout the European Union, you file an application with EUIPO. Once registered, the design is called a Registered European Union Design. A Polish attorney from Patentbox can handle the entire EUIPO procedure on behalf of your company.

• International registration via the Hague system (WIPO)
  Through the Hague system administered by WIPO, you can obtain international protection and designate several dozen territories (including the EU, USA, many Asian and African countries). This route is usually chosen when you plan extensive international expansion; the total cost depends on the countries you select.

In practice, European companies most often register their designs with EUIPO – this offers EU‑wide protection at a relatively moderate official fee level (from 350 EUR for a single design, plus attorney fees) and the registration can be obtained quickly, even in about 2 weeks.

What exactly does a registered design protect?

A registered industrial design protects only the appearance of the product – what can be seen on the drawings or photographs attached to the application. The registration does not cover technical solutions as such; those can be protected, for example, by a patent or a utility model.

What a design does NOT protect:

• Purely technical function – if the shape of the product is dictated solely by its technical function (for example, the sharp edge of a knife), it is excluded from design protection.

• Written information and names – only a trademark registration can protect a name or verbal element; a design registration will not protect the company name even if it is visible on the product images.

• Internal functionality – the internal structure, electronic layout or complex mechanics invisible in the registered views are outside the scope of design protection.

• Method of operation and purpose – how the product works or what it is used for is irrelevant to design protection; only its appearance as shown in the representations matters.

What a design DOES protect:

• Overall silhouette and shape of the product

• Colour scheme – specific colour combinations, both in colour and black‑and‑white variants

• Ornamentation – patterns, decorations and visual details

• Proportions and arrangement of elements – in short: the overall external look of the product

​

Rights obtained from a registered design

• The scope of protection of a registered design covers any design that does not produce a different overall impression on the informed user.

• Protection does not extend to product features dictated solely by its technical function.

• The protected appearance is whatever is visible in the images filed with the office – regardless of whether, and in what form, the right holder actually markets any product.

• An EU design registration grants its owner the exclusive right to use the design and to prevent unauthorised third parties from using it throughout the entire EU.

• “Use” of a design includes in particular: manufacturing, offering, placing on the market, importing, exporting and stocking products incorporating the design.

• In case of infringement (for example, counterfeits), the design owner may enforce their rights in court, seeking injunctions and financial compensation.

  ​

EU trademark vs EU design

Trademarks and industrial designs are two distinct types of industrial property rights. The table below summarises the main practical differences for EU‑level protection.

Should you register your industrial design?

The answer is YES, if:

✓  Your product has an original, easily recognisable look

✓ You plan to sell it in the EU for a longer period (it is not just a one‑season product)

✓ You want to protect yourself against copying

✓You operate in a sector where design is a key competitive advantage (fashion, electronics, furniture, consumer products)

✓You are the creator of the design or have acquired the right to register it from the designer

We will help you secure the unique look of your product before competitors try to copy it. Contact us to work out a registration strategy tailored to your industry and target markets.