USEFUL THINGS ABOUT INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS: UKRAINE AND THE WORLD

Unfortunately, an industrial design is not a very popular object in Ukraine. However, it should not be underestimated. It is not a secret that the appearance of the products has an essential role, because consumers often buy not the product, but the packaging itself that is the appearance of these products. That is why it is necessary to protect the appearance of the products.

It should be noted that in Ukraine in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Rights to Industrial Designs" the legal protection is granted to an industrial design that does not contradict the public order, principles of humanity and morals, and complies with the patentability conditions. An industrial design meets patentability conditions if it is new. It can be registered an object as the whole, but not its certain part.

The object of an industrial design may be the shape, picture, or coloration, or their combination, which define the appearance of an industrial product and are intended to satisfy aesthetic and ergonomic demands.

The legal protection is not granted to: - objects of architecture (except small architectural forms); - industrial, hydrotechnical, and other stationary structures; - printed products per se; - objects of an unstable form of liquid, gaseous, free-flowing, or like substances, etc.

It should be noted that industrial designs can be flat (contain a two-dimensional composition, for example, texture of fabrics, clothing images, labels), three-dimentional (a composition based on a volumetric-spatial structure, for example, the appearance of furniture, pens, bottles) or combined (containing features that are shaped or painted, for example, the appearance of shoes, which is sewn in any drawing, or a picture, which is depicted on the construction tile).

So, as industrial designs you can register: - boxing, packaging materials and containers; - labels; - packaging design (bottle shape); - prints of clothes patterns; - site design (interface); - design of aggregates and machines; - design of products (furniture, jewelry, utensils).

In contrast with Ukraine, in the European Union you can protect both the product as a whole and its parts. In one application you can submit a set of industrial designs that belong to one class of the International Classification of Industrial Designs. As for Ukraine, only one variant of the industrial design (external types of products that belong to the same functional group and to one class of International Classification of Industrial Designs, similar in combination of essential features and have differences in non-essential features that are perceived visually) can be protected in one application.

If we analuze the legislation of the United Kingdom, then in this country, for example, by an industrial design we mean the appearance of the whole product or its part. It can be embodied in: - the features of the shape of the product; - the combination of materials used in the decorated appearance of the product; - the coloring applied to the product, which appears in a certain color (combination of colors), lines, ornaments and other visual elements; - the embodiment of a special texture of the product felt to touch and so on. It should be remembered that in order to obtain a legal protection in the UK, the industrial design must be new and have an individual character (to be original).

As for the USA, in this country the industrial design consists of visual decorative and ergonomic characteristics that are embodied or applied in the product of production (product). Under the industrial design in the United States understand the design of the appearance of the surface of the product or a combination of components of the product with the decoration of its surface. Such an object of intellectual property should accurately outline the pattern (template, sample) of the decorative surface that will be applied to the product of industrial production. Hence it follows that the subject of consideration of an application for registration of an industrial design may be: the location of decorative elements (appearance) or the form of an industrial product. You should be aware that in accordance with US legislation the legal protection is not granted to the objects that: - contradict general ideas of morality and public order: contain elements that are offensive to any race, religion, sex, nationality or ethnic groups etc.; - have not acquired their uniqueness or differences in the form and appearance; - are not original - imitate already known  products designs or the natural properties of such things.

Our company has been successfully accompanying its customers in the process of registering the industrial designs for many years, using individual approaches to each case. Our experience in this field as well as awareness of differences in the systems of foreign countries, enables us just for you to take all necessary steps to register and protect your industrial design not only in Ukraine but also, if necessary, in any other country in the world.