Industrial designs are like the shy cousins of much sexier
patents and copyright. Sure, patents and copyright get all the
attention, but industrial design can be a very reliable, useful
tool in the intellectual property toolbox. This category of
protection (in the US, known as "design patents") will
protect the visual features of a product (shape, configuration,
pattern or ornament). Functional, utilitarian or useful elements
cannot be protected. Industrial design protection expires after 10
years, so it does not extend as long as patents or copyrights, but
can provide protection for articles that are not eligible for
either copyright or patent protection.
In Bodum USA, Inc. v. Trudeau
Corporation, 2012 FC 1128 (CanLII), the court
considered two competing double-walled drinking glasses, one of
which (the design owned by Bodum) was registered as an industrial
design. The double-wall configuration itself serves a utilitarian
function: it keeps hot drinks hot and
