Design Patents are incredibly useful IP tools. They confer an exclusivity right on the shape of a product. More precisely they are intended to protect the appearance of the whole product or a part of the product which results from the features of the lines, contours, colors, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation.

Therefore, any product, any industrial or handicraft item, including, inter alia, parts intended to be assembled into a complex product, packaging, get-up, graphic symbols and typographic typefaces can be potentially protected under design patent law.

A design patent can be protected for up to twenty five years in most countries.

High-end design is also protected in the European Union under copyright law and thus has longer lasting and broader protection.

A design patent is an intangible asset and its value is included in the value of your business. It can be transferred, licensed to third parties and also pledged as collateral while seeking financing.

The main services we provide in this field of the law are:

ADVICE

We devise a comprehensive strategy to protect the design of your

products or the design of the packaging of your products.

We advise our clients on substantive design patent law.

We assess design patents and perform design patent due diligence.

We assess freedom to operate with regard to previous design patent

applications.

We advise our clients on the validity/nullity requirements of design

patent applications or registrations.

We advise on the exhaustion of design patent rights .

We offer comprehensive advice on design projects performed by

employees or freelance designers.

We advise our clients on infringement cases.

APPLICATION FILING

We file design patent applications at both national and international

level, via OHIM and WIPO.

We advise our clients in the process of choosing which products are

worth registering and which are not.

We advise our clients in selecting the countries where protection is

needed and can be enforced or licensed.

We administer and monitor design patent applications and registrations.

We represent our clients in opposition or invalidation procedures before

the competent Offices in Italy, Europe and overseas.

LITIGATION

We conduct design patent infringement proceedings in Italy.

We conduct design patent nullity proceedings in Italy.

We conduct legal proceedings for breach of contract.

We defend our clients against infringement allegations brought against

them by competitors or third parties.

We conduct or participate, through our network of IP professionals, in

cross-border design patent infringement and/or validity/nullitylawsuits.

CONTRACTS

We advise on contractual matters, in particular regarding transfer,

licensing and pledge agreements.

We also assist our clients in drafting and negotiating non-disclosure

agreements and engineering agreements.