Designs Act
All designs registration is in accordance with the South African Designs Act 195 of 1993 which makes provision for the registration of aesthetic and functional designs.
Aesthetic designs
Aesthetic designs are designs applied to an article which has features which are judged solely by the eye. To qualify for registration aesthetic designs must be new and original. Once granted aesthetic design registrations are valid for 15 years. An aesthetic design is a great tool from an Intellectual Property perspective to protect the look and feel of a product and packaging.
Apple has for example used the aesthetic design to protect the shape and look of their apple IPAD.
Sample: Aesthetic Designs
Sample: Functional Designs
Functional designs
Functional designs are designs applied to an article having features which are necessitated by the function which the article is to perform. To qualify for registration a functional design must be new and not commonplace in the art in question. Functional designs are valid for a period of 10 years.
Functional and Aesthetic Design are important tools in Intellectual Property Law, especially in South Africa where without such design registration rights, the provisions of Section 15 (3A) of the Copyright Act will allow for reverse engineering of utilitarian articles manufactured primarily through an industrial process.
Designs Registration of Aesthetic & Functional designs.
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