Coffee capsules, reels and vacuum cleaner bags:  Can you protect the industrial design of components?

In a recent decision, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) analyzed a case involving replacement vacuum cleaner bags and their protection as industrial property. Whether or not these types of products or components can be protected as industrial designs must be addressed case by case. The legal protection of industrial designs mainly covers aesthetics, […]

How patent’s priority affects the protection of industrial designs

Today, April 27, is International Design Day, an event, which seeks to recognize the value of design in society and business. Under the nomenclature ‘industrial designs’, designs were considered industrial property rights in their own right under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (PCPIP) of March 20, 1883, which laid down the […]

Shall we play protecting our products? Design as a differentiating factor in the toy industry

Fakes are a major headache for toy companies. Counterfeiters, who even manage to obtain industrial property rights in their designs, are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. Let’s look at a few cases. Despite the general drop in consumption following lockdown in 2020, the toy industry has managed to emerge stronger than ever by taking advantage of […]