Our design rights services
Our experienced EU design rights agents and lawyers will help you understand the possibilities of protecting your product's design. This ensures proper protection and maximizes the benefits obtained from the design.
We will discuss with you what can and should be protected with design rights. We will go through the different elements of design and factors affecting protection: products, your company's design language, the look & feel of the design, competitors' protection activities, and the method of protection.
We handle the registration of design rights to the extent required by your business internationally. If your design is copied, we also professionally handle infringement assessments and the defense of your design.
What do you lose if you don't protect your design?
It is very difficult or almost impossible to intervene in imitation if the design is not protected. Copyright often does not protect industrial design. The investments you make in design may benefit your competitor, as they can imitate your unique design language and incorporate part of your brand into their product. The uniqueness, distinctiveness, and brand of your product may weaken if a competitor imitates your product's design.
Soile Järvenpää
European Trademark and Design Attorney, Team Leader
- soile.jarvenpaa@berggren.fi
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+358 40 823 1268
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+358 10 227 2622
I have a new product, how can I protect it?
Protecting a new product is important and it can be protected in several different ways. If your product is a new invention or technical innovation, you can apply for a patent. To protect the appearance of the product, design protection is required. A distinctive name or logo for the product can be protected with a trademark.
Why do I need design protection when I have copyright?
Copyright and design protection are two different forms of intellectual property rights, which generally do not overlap because in Finland, the threshold for a work to qualify for copyright is rarely met. Therefore, design protection is the primary form of protection for designs.
My product is not a design product, so it can't be protected with a design right, or can it?
Design protection is not limited to design products only; it can cover a wide range of industrial products and their appearances. Even if your product is not a design product, its new and unique appearance can be protected with design registration.
I have already launched my product, so it can't be protected with a design right anymore, or can it?
It is recommended to apply for design protection before releasing the product. However, some countries or regions' offices allow for protection after the date of public disclosure, such as in the EU and the USA. However, it is always necessary to consider on a case-by-case basis in which countries it is still possible to obtain valid design protection after the product's release.
Can design protection be circumvented by minor differences in the product?
Design protection covers the essential visual features of a product. Usually, minor cosmetic changes or slight differences are not enough to circumvent a well-executed design protection.
What does it cost to protect a design with design rights?
Contact Berggren's experienced design protection professionals, who will provide you with a cost-effective proposal for protecting your design with design rights.
Our experts will determine the protection needs corresponding to your current and planned business activities and prepare a cost-effective proposal for international protection. Our experienced EU design rights agents will help you understand the possibilities of protecting your product's new design and the best way to protect it, ensuring appropriate protection for your product.
It is advisable to register the design right well before the product launch, as one of the conditions for design right protection is the novelty of the design.
eBerggren® renewal tool for the maintenance and renewal of design rights registrations
"We offer a service solution for the maintenance and renewal of design rights registrations, combining an easy-to-use digital tool with the consultation of our experts.
In the eBerggren renewal tool service, you can easily review and indicate which design rights registrations are to be renewed and which registrations may have other simultaneous actions such as changes in ownership. The eBerggren renewal tool service provides a cost estimate for next year's design rights renewals for budgeting purposes.
Contact us
Soile Järvenpää
European Trademark and Design Attorney, Team Leader
- soile.jarvenpaa@berggren.fi
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+358 40 823 1268
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+358 10 227 2622
Markku Szymczak
European Design Attorney
- markku.szymczak@berggren.fi
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+358 40 590 4772
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+358 10 227 2392
Paula de Andrés Gómez
European Design Attorney, translator, interpreter
- paula.deandresgomez@berggren.es
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+34 659 63 61 95 (ES)
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+358 40 553 5702 (FI)
Milla Lehtoranta
Lawyer, European Trademark and Design Attorney, Team Leader
- milla.lehtoranta@berggren.fi
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+358 40 748 6050
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+358 10 227 2226