Why Should Your Company Protect Its Industrial Designs?

Industrial design contains aesthetic and decorative characteristics that, without directly affecting profits, provides a particular attraction that can be the determining factor in someone selecting one product over another. As a result, it represents important Intellectual Property to protect. 

According to the rulings in the Decisión Andina number 486 from 2000, the only absolute requirement for a design to merit Intellectual Property protection was its novelty. Other criteria that were also mentioned were the need for elements of the design to be visually unique, having a special appearance, and with a specific functional utility.

Nevertheless, since 2002, the Tribunal Andino has reiterated several times that, although the Decisión Andina number 486 from 2000 doesn't expressly state it, factors that determine whether trademarks included in articles 135 and 136 can or cannot be registered should also apply to industrial designs. As a result, these designs should