Protection through patents and designs: complementary tools

1. Protection by patent :

• Protected protected: a patent protects a technical invention, i.e. an innovative product or process that offers a technical solution to a technical problem.
• Duration of protection: generally 20 years from the date of filing of the patent application.
• Protection criteria: the invention must be new, involve an inventive step and be suitable for industrial application.
• Aim: preventing competitors from copying or exploiting the technology without authorisation.

2. Protection by design :

• Protected object: the design protects the appearance of a product or part of a product, i.e. the aesthetic or decorative aspects (shapes, patterns, colours, texture), independently of its technical function.
• Duration of protection: generally up to 25 years (with periodic renewals).
• Protection criteria: the design must be new and have an individual character, i.e. it must be perceived by the informed user as different from other existing models.
• Aim: protecting the aesthetics of a product and preventing visual imitations of that product.

3. Complementarity :

These two forms of protection are complementary because they cover both the technical innovation and the aesthetic design of a product:

• A product can be both technically innovative (protected by a patent) and have a distinctive appearance (protected by a design patent).
• For example, a smartphone could be protected by one or more patents for its technical innovations (processor, algorithms, functions, etc.) and by a design patent for its external design (shape, interface, colours).
• This dual protection prevents not only copying of the underlying technology, but also imitating of the visual appearance of the product.

 4. Benefits of this complementarity :

• Complete coverage: by combining the two protections, a company can protect both the functional and aesthetic aspects of its product, thereby strengthening its market position.
• Competitive barrier: it becomes more difficult for competitors to circumvent the protection by modifying either the appearance or the operation.
• Added value: this maximises the commercial value of an innovation by capitalising on both its technology and its design.

In short, patent protection covers technical innovation, while design protection focuses on aesthetic appearance, and together they guarantee comprehensive protection of an innovative product.