Lesson 3: How Do Industrial Designs Intersect with Other Types of IP?
HOW DO INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS AND TRADEMARKS INTERSECT?
Since trademark protection covers distinctive shape elements of a product (trade dress), trademark protection can intersect with industrial design protection.
In other words, in most countries, you can use both trademark law and industrial design protection over the same product, so long as the legal requirements for each form of IP are met.
| Trademark | Design |
|---|---|
|
|
Depending on your circumstances and the relevant legal principles applicable in the key countries in which you want to do business, you can consider using trademark law and industrial design law concurrently as well as cumulatively once your industrial design protection ends.
HOW DO INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION/TRADE SECRETS INTERSECT?
To the extent that industrial design registration requires disclosure of the design and that the protected design is visible to the eye once the product is manufactured and sold, any confidential information/trade secret protection would be lost. However, one can use confidential information/trade secret protection strategically to protect against disclosure prior to filing the industrial design application.