Design Rights

Design protection is a legal right that covers the appearance of a product: its shape, the way it looks and any decoration on it. It protects how a product looks, not the idea behind it or how it works. For example, a company might sell a pencil case with a rocket-and-stars pattern printed on the front, and design protection can cover that pattern and the shape of the case.

Design protection stops other people from making or selling items that use the protected appearance without permission. If a rival printed the same rocket-and-stars pattern on its own pencil cases and sold them, that would break the law unless the owner had given permission. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 makes it unlawful to produce or sell items that use a protected design without permission.

Because the right covers appearance, a rival could still make a pencil case that works in a similar way, as long as it looks different. What matters is whether the two products look the same, not whether they do the same job.