2017-02-28
Novel inventions call for legal protection. When you create something novel, which is critical to your success, you should obtain legal protection to prevent infringement. Obtaining a patent is the best way of safeguarding your creation, as it gives you 20-years of monopoly over it. Therefore, when you have a finished product as your invention, you may want to consider protecting its design aspects such as the shape, pattern, and ornament of the product. Design patents protect a product’s design. Unlike utility patents, design patents safeguard the aesthetic features of a product. This provides additional protection for your invention. A design patent is equivalent to industrial design in Canada. To protect a product design in Canada, you must obtain an industrial design registration. Eligibility for obtaining an industrial design registration is that the design features must be original or unique.
Obtaining a Design Patent
If you have a distinctive looking product, you may obtain additional protection by way of industrial design. Industrial design registration can be obtained for:
- Design aspects such as the shape, configuration, pattern, ornament, or any combination of these applied to a finished article.
- Design on a portion of a finished article. For example, decoration applied on a t-shirt.
- Design features common to a particular set of a product. For example, a repeat pattern applied to wallpapers.
- Variant designs that possess significant similarities to be applicable to a single design application.
However, you cannot include variant designs with major differences in a single application. In such cases, you may be required to file various applications. Also, while you can protect patterns created in different colours, the industrial design does not safeguard colour or material of a product.
Registration of Design Patent
A design patent or an industrial design application in Canada can be filed anytime if your design has never been published or within 12 months after it has been published. You are required to pay a fee within the first five years and six months of your registration date to maintain the protection.
Application
When filing an application, apart from general details you must pay attention to three aspects- Title, Description and Drawing/Photographs. Make sure to provide the title of your finished product and provide an accurate description of each visible design feature including where it is placed in the product. Obtaining a registration requires you to submit photographs or drawings of the product design. Make sure to check with CIPO to ensure your drawings are in compliance with the rules mentioned. A patent agent can help you with this.
Search and Examination
After a preliminary examination of the title, description, drawings, and variants are done, the examiner will compare it with pending, registered, and published designs for similarities. Once done, an examination will be conducted to ensure the application is in compliance with the law. If you receive any examiner’s objections, you must respond in writing within the timeframe including the amendments to be made.
Registration
Once the design is approved by the examiner, it becomes eligible for registration. You will receive the certificate of registration and copy of the application of the registered design.
An industrial design registration provides you with 10 years of protection for your product design. It is during the application stage that many people face difficulties. An experienced patent agent can provide smooth guidance to protect your product design.
