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ARTICLE · 27 NOVEMBER 2019

Functional Design Registrations | The Definitive Statement Is King

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A recent decision concerning a functional design registration registered in terms of the Designs Act 195 of 1993 was handed down by Acting Judge Millar in the High Court, Gauteng Division, Pretoria.

South AfricaIntellectual Property
Sophia Smallbones
Sophia Smallbones
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A recent decision concerning a functional design registration registered in terms of the Designs Act 195 of 1993 was handed down by Acting Judge Millar in the High Court, Gauteng Division, Pretoria. The ratio of the judgment, however, is also applicable to aesthetic design registrations.

Design registrations are the lesser-known alternative, or additional form of intellectual property protection to patents. In some cases, design protection is more effective than patent protection, in particular, where the novelty lies in the appearance of an article and where a proprietor seeks cheaper and quicker registration and enforcement.

An aesthetic design means any design applied to any article, whether for the pattern or the shape or the configuration or the ornamentation thereof, or for any two or more of those purposes, which appeal to and are judged solely by the eye, irrespective of the aesthetic quality thereof.

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