Protecting the form and function of a product
Protecting a design means safeguarding one of a company’s most valuable assets. A product’s form expresses its identity, enhances its commercial value and is often one of the key elements of differentiation in the market. We assist companies and designers in defining the most effective strategies to protect and enhance the value of a design throughout the product’s entire life cycle.
We support our clients in registering designs at national, European and international levels, utilising LGV Filing & Services – the Group company specialising in filing and prosecution services – for the filing and management of registration procedures. We coordinate the entire protection process, from defining the protection strategy to managing relations with the relevant offices, right through to oppositions and administrative invalidity proceedings.
The registration of designs is the primary means of protecting a product’s form under Italian and European law. We provide assistance in assessing, based on the specific characteristics of each case, whether the registration of a design could serve as the starting point for a broader protection strategy, such as copyright, unfair competition or three-dimensional trade mark protection.
Thanks to the experience gained by our firm, we are able to identify the most effective combination of tools, building a coordinated protection strategy that enhances the value of the product and broadens the scope for defence against competitors.
Alongside the protection of form, we assist clients in securing utility model protection under Articles 82 et seq. of the Industrial Property Code, which protect technical solutions designed to confer particular effectiveness or ease of use on machines, instruments or their parts. Our work includes assessing the choice between a patent for an invention and a utility model, preparing and filing the application, any conversion between the two types of protection, and defence in court proceedings.
We assist clients in disputes relating to designs, utility models, three-dimensional trade marks, copyright as applied to design and unfair competition, making use of the available injunctive, administrative, customs and criminal remedies, including in cross-border contexts.