Bodum – a maker of popular coffee-press and glass products
– wanted to protect their design for a double-walled drinking
glass in a competitive marketplace. Apple wanted to protect the
design of their popular handsets like the iPhone and iPad. Both
companies turned to industrial design protection.
Industrial designs are like the shy cousins of patents and
copyright. Patents and copyright get all the headlines, but
industrial design can be a very reliable, useful tool in the
intellectual property (IP) toolbox. Industrial designs (in the US,
known as "design patents") will protect the visual
features of a product (shape, configuration, pattern or ornament).
It's important to remember that 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.
