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There are numerous registered design benefits to consider of which some of the so-called registered design benefits are briefly discussed below.
One of the main registered design benefits to consider is that once a design has been registered you will have grounds for legal action and will have the law on your side when a third party infringes on your design rights.
Another benefit is that a design application is rather cost effective as a means to protection of intellectual property rights especially when compared to the costs of registering a patent or even a trademark.
The registered design helps to protect the various elements which make an article valuable by virtue of its shape, configuration or pattern as related to function or aesthetic value.
Although copyright doesn’t have to be registered and is automatically assigned in South Africa for works of art, the wording of a design and the drawings, one would find it rather difficult to demonstrate that a party has copied the drawings in a design if the design and thus its drawings have not been registered with the South African Design Office.
If not registered, the creator will not have official documentation as evidence of the rights and will thus not have the law to protect against infringement.
Once registered, a design gives the owner thereof monopoly rights regarding the production and commercial exploitation of the design in South Africa and any of the countries and classes within which the design has been registered. The rights are enforceable.
As such the design also gains value and with such design rights can be seen as an asset. It is possible to also obtain design rights in the countries belonging to the Paris Convention. If you want to add value to the company’s business and asset portfolio, you can do so by registering your designs.
Contact us at Smit & Van Wyk Intellectual Property Attorneys to help you register your designs and be able to join all the registered design benefits which are associated with such.
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