We are not sure that some of our clients would agree. It was certainly not the first reaction of a recent designer client who saw their high end, bespoke designs being cheaply reproduced on the high street. 

As you will know if you create designs, large amounts of time, effort and money are often invested in to creating new, cutting-edge product designs.  So what can you do if someone else decides to take advantage of your hard work by reproducing your design, or a substantial part of it, for commercial advantage?

Firstly you need to act quickly to protect the goodwill which has been created in your brand/ products/ designs. You need to avoid a situation occurring where others believe that the inferior imitation product is one of your designs or is some way connected to you / your business as this could cause untold damage to your continued goodwill. 

The good news is that designs are relatively easy to protect, so the advice is often to register your design.  If you have solicitors to help you, the process can be straight forward, fast and a worthwhile investment. Protection can be sought in the UK, EU or other countries worldwide.

Registering your design will give you the exclusive right to protect the outward appearance of the design and to exploit it for commercial advantage.  This means that you can prevent others from making, selling, importing, and exporting a product to which your design is applied.

If you are not in the position of having registered your design then do not worry, you may still be protected.  Provided your design is original and your own work you are likely to have an automatic unregistered design right in the internal or external shape or configuration of the design.  This right will last for 10 years from the date on which you first market the design. It will give you the exclusive right to reproduce the design for commercial reasons.  If anyone else does so without your permission, you can claim infringement of your unregistered rights.  You may have a slightly more difficult fight on your hands than if you had registered the design as you will have to prove that the design has been copied.

In addition to the specific design rights, you may also have other claims for copyright infringement, trade mark infringement and passing off. 

Design right claims need to be brought before the courts however in our experience a carefully worded letter to the infringing party setting out your rights might just have the desired effect.

Here at JMW we pride ourselves on looking at the specific circumstances of your case and advising on the best way of achieving a swift and cost effective result.

For further information regarding design rights please contact Debbie Rainford on deborah.rainford@jmw.co.uk