Figure 1: an IP conversation
Join Albright IP for “Figure 1: an IP conversation,” a podcast dedicated to demystifying the world of intellectual property. Expect friendly, expert-led discussions covering all areas of IP, helping innovators, founders and creatives protect what matters.
Figure 1: an IP conversation
Registered Designs vs Patents: What’s Actually More Powerful?
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In this episode of Figure 1: an IP conversation, Albright IP Managing Director Robert Games is joined by Freddie Noble, Patent Attorney, who heads our Cornwall office, to explore the role of registered designs in the wider IP landscape, and to ask a provocative question: can registered designs sometimes be more powerful than patents?
Patents protect how something works. Registered designs protect how it looks.
But in a competitive market, appearance can be just as commercially valuable as technical innovation.
Through practical examples and well-known cases, including the Trunki dispute and Apple’s design battle with Samsung, the conversation highlights how small decisions at the filing stage can have major consequences years later.
The episode covers:
• What registered designs protect (and the limits around technical function)
• Why the images you file completely define your scope of protection
• Lessons from the Trunki case and what went wrong
• How to use multiple filings to strengthen and widen protection
• The 12-month grace period and when it can help
• When to file, and why timing matters if patents are involved
• How infringement is assessed and what “overall impression” really means
• The commercial value of designs compared with unregistered rights
This episode is aimed at founders, product designers, in-house teams and growing businesses that want to protect the visual identity of their products properly and avoid costly mistakes.
Figure 1: an IP conversation. Real stories. Real lessons. The protection your business needs.
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Visit Albright IP: www.albright-ip.co.uk
Want to take part in our quiz just click the link: https://www.albright-ip.co.uk/wp_quiz/overall-impression-in-registered-designs/