The difference between Aesthetic and Functional Design Rights

February 20, 2009
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

South African design rights fall into two major categories – that of aesthetic and functional. The difference between aesthetic and functional design rights lies mainly in the purpose. Aesthetic design rights are awarded on the basis of the appearance of an article.

It doesn’t matter whether it is aesthetically appealing since it is a relative concept. Rather the unique appearance is used as the basis for awarding the design rights.

The functional design rights are awarded on the basis of function of the article – that is the appearance of an article is protected in relation to the function to be performed.

An example of functional will be a type of door, while aesthetic will be a type of ring.

The functional design rights are awarded for a 10 year period whereas for aesthetic the period of protection covers 15 years.