Background and purpose
How will it be if one day you wake up and realize that somebody in a particular place producing and selling a product that is identical to yours? Just think of such a scenario. But then, what will you do next? The essay shall majorly dwell on what exactly intellectual property rights are and more specifically industrial design rights that individual as well as organizations have and what one can do in a situation where such rights have been maliciously violated. The topic on property is broad and wide. However, the essay shall as much as possible concentrate on industrial design rights that companies have. At the moment the other types of intellectual property shall be overlooked.
Intellectual property is a concept that is increasingly becoming important to manufacturers, investors, customers and the government. This report shall look at industrial design rights in depth. It shall examine how and why the designing of a product affects its marketability and profitability. We shall use evaluation and analysis of an article on intellectual property written by a scholar to explain how one designs a certain product that will meet market demand, acquires industrial design rights and why it is useful. Industrial design rights are one of the types of intellectual property. Basically, Intellectual property rights are the rights that one legally after coming up with a product or item that no one else has ever produced. The law recognizes the person who comes up with the idea or product as the real owner and no one else is permitted to copy the product or idea without permission from the rightful owner. Industrial design right is an intellectual property right which protects the design of a marketable product so that other people do not produce an exactly similar product. The right protects the shape, pattern and configuration of the product. The design of a product determines its marketability.
How to obtain design rights
First, manufacturers design a product the try to fix the design later in order to meet the required shape and safety standards. The process of designing the product is costly and time consuming. However, prior knowledge of the level of safety that is required can be of great help when designing a product. This will reduce the amount of money and time that is used in designing. It is the controller of designs who critically analyze the product to determine if it satisfies the standards required. After designing a product, the product is sent to a lab where experts examine it to determine if it meets the required safety standards. If the product does not meet the required standards of safety, it is returned to the manufacturer for redesigning. However, if it meets the standards, a certification mark is issued from the hence forth, the manufacturer of the particular product shall be recognized by law to be exclusive and rightful owner of that particular design. The manufacture has to seek protection of the design rights by filling an application form to apply for protection of the rights. In the application form, the owner identifies themselves, describes the product to be protected and provides a graphic representation of the design. After obtaining the rights, the products design is registered for protection. After obtaining the design rights it is only that particular manufacturer that can produce that product and dispatch it to the customers. Anyone wishing to produce a product simi8lar to that must seek permi9ssion from the owner of the design rights. Producing a similar product without seeking the owner’s permission is termed as a crime punishable by law. By Safeguarding industrial design rights the law helps in promoting creativity thus enhancing the overall economic development. In instances where one violates the late of intellectual property, appropriate action is taken against him to bar such kind of malpractices.
Products design and marketability
‘’The first thing to consider when designing a product is the market in which a product shall be sold and to whom’’ (Gray, 34). The targeted customers need to be defined in terms of size, age, interests and preferences. The marketing department is responsible for conducting the analysis and the forward the findings to the production department. The findings are further analyzed by the production department and tries to design a product that will be meet the needs, tastes and preferences of the targeted consumers. After knowing where the product shall be sold and how the targeted consumers look like, the safety that is needed is then determined. Producing a product that does not appeal to the consumers will lead to a scenario whereby the product fails to secure a broad customer base. When designing the product the designer needs to pay a close attention to acceptability conditions and licensing to avoid a scenario in which the manufacturer is denied license to sell the product after production. The necessary components must be used during the production of any product. Designing and producing a product that fully meets the needs, interests, specifications and preferences of the consumer will ensure that the product attracts a wide customer base thus resulting to the profitability of the company.
Importance of industrial design rights
Industrial design rights are very important and necessary not only to the holder but also to the government and the general public. This is because the rights allow only the rightful owner of the design to produce and sell the designed product. This therefore prevents a scenario in which manufacturers produce products that is typically similar in design. Therefore one should not maliciously benefit from the time and effort devoted by someone in innovating or inventing a particular product. It helps in reducing the cut throat competition in the market and enforces an environment of healthy competition. Since the rights help in stimulating creativity and economic development, there has to be a well-defined way of protecting the rights holder so that other individuals or companies also think of how to design their own unique products.
What to do when industrial design rights are infringed
The holder of industrial design rights, upon registration, receives the right to bar unauthorized imitation or copying of his ideas or product. As a holder of industrial design rights, when the rights are infringed the holder is supposed to warn the alleged infringer to desist from doing that by communicating to them either by either means of communication but a letter is considered to be more appropriate since it can letter be used as evidence in a court of law. If the infringer persists, the rights holder should take a necessary legal action to protect his rights. The law protects all registered rights hence any company or individual that produces a product that has lots of similarities with an existing product is liable to a criminal offense punishable by the law. However, for the rights to be registered for protection, the design has to meet several requirements such as originality, novelty and should generally not violate public order. Every industrial design rights holder therefore has the responsibility of protecting their rights and anyone who infringes the rights should be petitioned in a law court so that corrective action is taken and stop the infringement. However, the issue of design rights is increasingly becoming complex and at times it needs professional intervention since many people find it had to comprehend exactly what the rights entail.
Summary
It is therefore very important to design your products in a unique way to ensure that it can clearly be differentiated from other products in the market. Before designing a product, it is important to determine the market in which your product will be dispatched to after production is complete. When you know this, you can utilize the fitting safety measures when outlining your product. Utilizing advisers to help with comprehension the security standard is an additional alternative to be recognized.
In the event that you are new to the proper security principles that will be utilized to assess your item throughout safety accreditation testing, your design will no doubt fall flat. Your parts may not be suitable, your walled in area may be insufficient, your circuits may need to be updated, and so forth. The point when your item founders throughout safety accreditation, you will be charged an extra cost for added assessment. Moreover, confirmation failure fundamentally defers your chance to market while you invest effort and time to alter the issues. Planning to meet the necessary safety standard and consumer needs is the best thing that any manufacturer should do. Any infringer of the design rights should be sued in a law court for corrective action to be taken against him since the design rights exclusively belongs to the holder. By protecting the design rights, the law therefore stimulates the development of the economy.
Works cited
Gray, Brian W, and Effie Bouzalas. Industrial Design Rights: An International Perspective. London: Kluwer Law International and International Bar Association, 2001. Print.
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