Protect your designs
and strengthen your position
We help you protect the appearance of your products and develop a design strategy that supports your business objectives. Combining legal and commercial expertise, we advise you from the initial assessment and registration through to the management of your design rights. Our advice helps you secure protection that reflects the commercial potential of your designs.
Experience
We have extensive experience in design protection and work with designs across a wide range of industries and product areas.
Expertise
Our specialists combine expertise in design law with an understanding of the commercial importance of design.
Advice
We provide strategic advice on scope of protection, registration, choice of markets and design portfolio management.
The commercial importance of design
Design plays an important role in how products are perceived and distinguished from competing products. Shape, colour, materials and visual appearance can be just as important to competitiveness as technical innovation and functional features.
Effective design protection can help protect investments in product development, strengthen a product’s position in the market and create commercial opportunities. We help you develop a strategy for using design protection effectively and combining it with other intellectual property rights.
Questions and answers
Design issues can arise at different stages – from the initial assessment of what can be protected to the registration and management of design rights across multiple markets. Below, we address some of the key questions relating to design protection and strategy.
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Design protection gives you the exclusive right to the appearance of a product or part of a product. This may include its shape, lines, contours, colours, patterns or other visual features that contribute to the product’s identity and distinguish it from other products.
We help you assess the options for protecting your design and how the scope of protection should be defined based on the product’s visual features and commercial significance. From there, we develop an appropriate registration strategy and manage the registration process. -
Design protection can cover both three-dimensional products and two-dimensional patterns or ornamentation. It can apply to everything from consumer and industrial products to packaging, graphic elements and other visual features.
To qualify for registration, a design must be new and have individual character. Assessing its visual features and how the design is represented in the application are therefore important parts of the process. We guide you in defining an appropriate scope of protection and representing the design in a way that reflects the relevant aspects of the product. -
Registered design protection is granted for a limited period and can be renewed for several successive periods. In Sweden and the EU, protection can generally be maintained for up to 25 years. How long a registration should be maintained depends, among other things, on the product’s lifespan and commercial significance.
When managing design rights, we consider both the individual registration and how it fits with your broader IP portfolio. Design protection can, for example, be combined with patents and trademarks to protect different aspects of the same product and provide more comprehensive IP protection. -
Design rights are territorial, so protection needs to reflect the markets where the design is used or will be used. Depending on your business needs, designs can be registered nationally, through EU design protection or through international registration systems covering multiple countries.
The choice of registration route depends on factors such as your markets, growth plans and commercial objectives. Together with you, we plan the international protection of your designs and manage the registration process in the relevant countries and regions.
Find the right expert
for your design needs
Our people Our services
Patents
We help you protect technical innovations and develop a patent strategy aligned with your business objectives. We support you throughout the patent process – from initial assessment and filing to managing and developing patent portfolios.
Trademarks
We help you protect your trademarks and strengthen their long-term value. Our expertise spans trademark strategy, registration and ongoing portfolio management, providing a strategic approach to managing your trademark portfolio.
Strategic IP Advice
We help you make strategic decisions about your intellectual assets in line with your business objectives. This may involve developing IP strategies, assessing freedom to operate and prioritising the right actions for your business.
IP Disputes
We help you navigate infringement matters, oppositions and other intellectual property disputes. We represent both rights holders and parties defending against third-party claims, developing a strategy tailored to each situation.
Commercial Law
We help you navigate commercial legal matters involving intellectual property. This may include agreements, licensing, collaborations, commercialisation and trade secrets – providing a clear and sustainable legal framework for your business.