Design makes your product more attractive.
Design means customers know it's your product.
Design is an opportunity to express yourself in your product.

So, how do you protect your design?

Well, that depends. When you have something that needs to get to market fast, you may just have to rely on first mover advantage to outpace your competitors. But there may be other means available. Copyright may afford a certain degree of protection in particular circumstances. And if you are using your design as a means to identify goods or services in commerce, trademark, and even federal trademark registration, may be available.

There are also design patents. Granted by the United States Patent Office, design patents are a prominent form of design protection the United States, available for the appearance of articles of manufacture. They have analogs in other countries throughout the world in national and international design registration schemes.

Each of the types of IP protection has different requirements for eligibility, protects different facets of a design, and has different durations of protection. Choosing which, if any, you might use involves both a strategic business decision, and a determination of legal eligibility.

To find out more, from an expert, join us on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. at the Science, Industry and Business LIbrary, 188 Madison Ave. (corner of 34th Street). Patent attorney David Boag wil discuss design patents and other forms of design protection, including foreign registrations, copyright and trademark. This program is being presented in recognition of World Intellectual Property Day 2016. Earlier in the day we will offer two of our own IP classes, Introduction to Trademarks and Introduction to Patents.

More information about this program and a flyer to download.

For earlier discussions about ways to protect designs and other kinds of Intellectual Property, you can read the following posts:

• Patent, Copyright and Trademark: Choose Your IP
• Choose Your IP Too: Trade Secrets and Patents
• The Final Factors: Your IP Protection Choices
• Message from a Bottle: Choosing Your IP Protection Redux