Protecting designs and intellectual property

Copyright and Design Rights:

Copyrights:

• Copyright is a legal right that protects the use of your work once your idea has been physically expressed
• The current copyright legislation in the UK is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, provides cover for most works 70 years after the death of the creator
• Copyright law lays out a framework of rules around how work can be used
• It sets out the rights of the owner, as well as the responsibilities of other people who want to use the work
• It allows management of permission for others to use work

For your work to be protected by copyright law it needs to be original and tangible:

• Original: The work must be a product of your own skill or intellectual creation, should not replicate someone else's work
• Tangible: This means it can't be an idea you had, it needs to be expressed in a physical form

Examples of copyright items: Books, photos, drama, music, film, TV, software

Design Rights:

• Design right is a legal protection that safeguards the appearance of a product
• In the UK, protection comes from both the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (unregistered) and Registered Designs Act 1949
• Design rights prevent others from copying the visual features of your product
• They specify what others can and cannot do with your design
• They enable you to license or sell your design rights

For a design to qualify for protection it must be:

• New: The design must not have been made public before the application date (for registered designs) or creation date (for unregistered rights)
• Individual Character: The design must produce a different overall impression to existing designs

Types of design protection:

• Registered Designs:
  • Stronger protection lasting up to 25 years (requires renewal every 5 years)
  • Must be applied for through the UK Intellectual Property Office
• Unregistered Design Rights:
  • Automatic protection lasting 10-15 years depending on disclosure
  • Only protects against direct copying

Examples of protected designs: Product shapes, textile patterns, furniture designs, graphic symbols

Patents:

• Patentable inventions are New and Not obvious and solve a technical problem
• With patents, you can exclude other from making, using, selling or importing your invention
• The Intellectual property office (IPO) grants rights (patents) for novel inventions
• 20 years legal protection
• Expensive/complicated to obtain

You can use patents to:

• Add value to your business
• Enhance your brand image
• Negotiate financing

Patents have some disadvantages though:

• Time consuming to obtain
• Designs become publicly available
• Patents are often not that effective as patents are copied via legal loopholes
• Costly to obtain
• Need renewing every 4 years and time limited to 20 years

Examples: Apple vs Samsung, Dyson vs Hoover

Trademarks and Logos:

Trademarks:

• Trademarks give legal protection for brand identity and facilitate marketing
• A recognisable combination of words, sounds, colours and logos is important for companies
• A logo is a graphical symbol; it needs to be instantly identifiable and unique in order to stand out
• A trademark may incorporate graphics, but can be a word or phrase such as 'dual cyclone'
• Trademarks are registered by making an application and paying a fee to the IPO
• Trademarks need to be renewed every ten years
• The ® symbol is used to warn others that it is protected by trademark

*Logos are covered by Trademark

Logo Protection:

• A logo can be protected through multiple intellectual property rights depending on its nature and use
• In the UK, logo protection primarily comes from trademark law, with additional protection possible under copyright and design rights
• Legal protection prevents others from using similar logos that could cause confusion
• It establishes exclusive rights to use, license, or sell the logo
• Protection allows legal action against unauthorized use or imitation

For a logo to qualify for protection it must be:

• Distinctive: Must be capable of distinguishing your goods/services from others
• Non-descriptive: Cannot simply describe the product/service it represents
• Original: Should be your own creation (for copyright protection)

Types of logo protection:

• Trademark Registration:
  • Strongest protection lasting indefinitely if renewed every 10 years
  • Must be registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office
  • Protects brand identity and prevents confusion in the marketplace
• Copyright Protection:
  • Automatic for original artistic works (including logos)
  • Lasts for 70 years after creator's death
  • Protects the artistic expression but not the brand function
• Design Rights:
  • May apply to the visual appearance of the logo
  • Registered design protection lasts up to 25 years

Examples of protected logos: Company logos, brand symbols, distinctive signatures, emblem designs

Open Design:

Open design is an approach where design information is made publicly available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It is similar in philosophy to open-source software but applies to physical products, systems, and hardware.

Key characteristics of open design:

• Design files (CAD, schematics, models) are shared openly
• Anyone can study, modify, improve, or redistribute the design
• Encourages community collaboration and innovation
• Often shared under open licences (Creative Commons, Open Design Licence)

Advantages	Disadvantages
Accelerates innovation through community collaboration Reduces development costs by sharing knowledge and resources Improves transparency and trust in the product Supports global collaboration in engineering and technology	Harder to maintain exclusive commercial advantage Quality control can vary depending on contributors More difficult to monetise without a strong business model Designs may be copied or misused if licensing is unclear

Licensing in open design:

• Creative Commons (CC): Commonly used for documentation, images, and design files
• Open Design Licence (ODL): Specific to physical product design sharing
• GNU GPL / Open Hardware Licence: Used for open hardware projects
• Licences define what others can do: copy, modify, sell, or redistribute

Examples of open design in practice:

• Open-source 3D printer designs such as RepRap
• Arduino hardware schematics
• Open-source medical equipment (e.g., low-cost prosthetics)
• Community-driven product development platforms (e.g., Wikifactory)

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