How can I protect my designs?

[Klas]

There are a few ways you can protect your brand and your products from getting copied or violated.

The first is by trademark registration. This is to protect your logo and brand name.

Your design could, if it is original, be protected by copyright. Copyright is a right that (automatically in many countries) grants a creator of original work to determine how it can be used by others. Remember, if a competitor copies you and just make a minor tweak, then your copyright is not valid.

You can apply for a registered design protecting the way a product looks. The registered design allows the owner of that design to grant access to, or exclude others from, making, selling, offering for sale or hire the design protected by the registered design. The exact monopoly the design covers is contained in the drawings in the registered design.

You can also patent clothing design. Clothing companies will often patent a unique design to prevent other companies from imitating it. You can patent the unique clothing design with a design patent, or a unique function with a utility patent. Registration of clothing design for a patent is more difficult than obtaining a trademark or a registered design. You need to show evidence that your design or function is unique and can be classified as an invention. You are claiming the invention of the unique look of the clothing and not the clothing itself.

Fighting legal battles is time, money and energy draining. The best way to handle these kinds of issues could be to just make sure you are innovative, first out in the market with your designs, and constantly changing. If someone is copying you, they will not be the original and already behind when you launch a new and updated collection.

[Sebastian Smith]

Great, thank you!