Designs Searches, Filing & Prosecution

A registered design protects a product’s appearance. It is a monopoly that protects the overall unique appearance of a product—its shape, configuration, pattern, and/or ornamentation.

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Benefits of Design IP

In a competitive market, where design plays a crucial role, securing a government-granted monopoly right to your design can offer significant business advantages.

A registered design safeguards a product’s distinctive visual features—its shape, configuration, pattern, and decoration. This exclusive right, provided by IP Australia, grants the owner a monopoly for the design’s use in its market category for up to ten years.

Securing a registered design enhances your product and business value in the following ways:

Monetise your design through exclusivity, allowing you to reap financial rewards from commercialisation.
Assert your rights against infringers by taking legal action if necessary to halt their activities and recover financial losses or their gains.
Strengthen your negotiating power with potential partners, investors, or licensees through the assurance of legal protection.
Deter potential imitators by establishing a clear claim to your innovative design, emphasising prevention over remedy.
Protect your investment in product development by making it nearly impossible for competitors to replicate your design without authorisation.

How we can help you

Directed by Jennifer Driver, our design registration team combines extensive technical expertise, commercial acumen, and a proven track record to support your business.

Our services include:

Comprehensive advice on design protection strategies for Australian and international markets.
Conducting design searches and offering professional advice.
Drafting and filing design applications domestically and globally.
Managing the prosecution of design applications and providing design watch services.
Overseeing design portfolio management for local and global markets, including renewals.
Offering expert infringement advice and conducting design audits and due diligence.
Supporting clients in opposition proceedings before IP Australia.
Assisting with the preparation of commercial agreements, including licensing, related to the commercialisation of registered designs.
Enforcing and defending registered designs through infringement proceedings to safeguard your rights.

Our Designs Searches, Filing & Prosecution Team

Jennifer Driver

Principal | Trade Mark Attorney @ Actuate IP

Nicholas Milne

Principal | Patent Attorney @ Actuate Patents

Paola Rios

Legal Projects Administrator & Trade Mark Attorney @ Actuate IP