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Designs

A design relates to an appearance of a product – shapes, contours, decorative and ornamental patterns, icons, and graphic interfaces.

Is it possible to protect your design? What are the requirements? How can you enforce your design?

The protection of your design has to be flexible enough to follow fashion trends. To assist you in meeting this challenge, our cross-disciplinary team is at your service, with notable experience of designs and in-depth knowledge of market sectors.

Our work

Pre-filing work

  • Assessment of the specific or individual character of  designs that can be protected
  • Developing a disclosure strategy
  • Defining the geographical and sectoral scope 
  • Prior art searches
  • Carrying out research of documents
  • In-use investigations

Obtaining protection

  • Defining geographical scope
  • Preparing drawins, digital retouching
  • Preparing visuals
  • Editing your photographs
  • Determining the sectoral scope
  • Performing filing procedures
  • Dealing with administrative objections, official letters
  • Obtaining and transfering legal titles

Maintaining and optimising your design portfolio

  • Design registration
  • Securing deadlines: period of priority, follow-up of registration procedures, prorogation, deferring publication
  • Implementing administrative prorogation formalities and updating ownership
  • Audits: updating portfolios
  • Rationalisation: managing duplications, advice on abandoning or keeping designs

Design watch

  • Monitoring designs worldwide
  • Monitoring market places and pure-players
  • Competition watch
  • Sectoral watch
  • Use and public awareness surveys
  • Customs Surveillance

Litigation

  • Nullity proceedings
  • Pre-litigation: detecting infringements, cease and desist letters, complaints, amicable settlements
  • Negotiations, transactions.
  • Infringment seizures, customs seizures

Contracts

  • Contractual negotiations
  • Preparing and drafting confidentiality, assignment, licensing, co-ownership and collateral agreements and letters of consent and engagement
  • Co-ownership regulations
  • Complying with the registration requirements of Registries

Sectors

GERMAIN MAUREAU has developed sectoral expertise to assist you in finding solutions that meet your requirements.

Automotive
Food
Wines - spirits
Watches and jewellery
Haute couture – ready-to-wear
Tableware – Cutlery
Optical
Sports and leisure
Furniture and decoration
Perfumery – cosmetics – personal hygiene
Building and Public Works