In today’s competitive market, protecting your brand’s unique designs and patents is crucial for maintaining a strong identity and securing your market position.
This guide provides brand owners with essential strategies for monitoring and enforcing their intellectual property (IP) rights: from spotting potential infringements to taking action when necessary.
Whether you’re new to IP protection or looking to strengthen your existing practices, this article will walk you through the key steps to safeguard your brand effectively.
What are designs and patents?
Designs and patents are powerful forms of intellectual property that give brand owners the exclusive right to use and profit from their unique creations, whether it’s a product design, invention, or technology.
Protecting these assets is essential because it not only safeguards the time, effort, and resources invested in innovation, but also helps maintain a strong brand reputation by preventing copycats from diluting your brand’s uniqueness.
When designs and patents are protected, a brand can secure its place in the market, build customer loyalty, and create a competitive edge that translates directly into revenue.
Unprotected designs and patents leave businesses vulnerable to imitation, which can erode market share, reduce profit margins, and damage trust with customers who expect authenticity and quality from the brand.
Each region has its own laws governing IP rights. Let’s take a deeper look at what these look like across the UK, EU and US.
UK intellectual property law
Design rights: In the UK, design rights protect the overall appearance of a product. There are two types of design rights: registered and unregistered.
- Registered design rights offer longer protection, but require formal registration.
- Unregistered design rights arise automatically, but provide shorter protection: typically three years for appearance, and up to 15 years after it was created.
Patents: Patents protect inventions that are new, inventive, and capable of industrial application. To obtain a patent, you must file an application with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO).
EU intellectual property law
Community Design Rights: The EU offers Community Design Rights (CDRs), which provide protection for the appearance of a product throughout the EU. CDRs can be registered or unregistered.
European Patents: European patents provide protection for inventions across all EU member states. To obtain a European patent, you must file an application with the European Patent Office (EPO).
US intellectual property law
Design patents: Design patents protect the ornamental features of a product: that is, only the way it looks and not how it functions. To obtain a design patent, you must file an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Utility patents: Utility patents protect inventions that are new, useful, and non-obvious. Unlike the design patent, the utility patent protects the way the object functions and operates. To obtain a utility patent, you also must file an application with the USPTO.
How to monitor threats to design and patent IP rights
An important part of intellectual property protection is scanning the market for signs of design or patent infringement of your product: that is, creating and selling products that are identical or suspiciously similar to yours.
This should form a key part of your business strategy. Ensuring that you’re the only company producing a product that looks and acts like yours will help you to maintain a competitive edge.
With billions of web pages out there, how do you stay aware of any potential infringement?
Regularly check your product’s intellectual property status
Audit your brand portfolio
Go over your patents and designs to see if there are any gaps in protection. File patent applications for them as soon as possible so that you maintain exclusive rights.
If possible, do this with an intellectual property lawyer. They’ll help ensure your patents are up to date, and can make you aware of any existing or potential infringements in your industry.
Assess the strength of your rights.
Make sure your IP is strong enough to stop others from copying it, and ensure your rights are enforceable in whichever countries you trade.
Track competitors’ IP filings
Looking at your competitors’ behaviour within public IP databases will help you to keep on top of any designs, patents or trademarks that overlap with your own: so you can respond by serving legal documents if needed.
Keep an eye on online platforms
Monitor marketplaces
Check websites in key territories where your products are sold for signs of potential infringement and ‘copycat’ items.
Even if you don’t sell on them, browse listings on ecommerce sites like Amazon, eBay and Alibaba (as well as Facebook Marketplace) as counterfeit or copycat pieces may appear here.
Track social media
Look for discussions about your brand or products that might indicate unauthorised use. For example, reviews that report unusual faults or poor quality.
Set up Google Alerts and Image Recognition tools
These alert you as soon as certain words or images are used online, giving you immediate information about any mentions or visuals that indicate design patent infringement.
Use an intellectual property monitoring service
Aside from Google Alerts, there are powerful tools that can automatically scan online platforms for infringing content.
For example, SnapDragon utilises AI to identify infringing products quickly and accurately across hundreds of global platforms and marketplaces. Find out more about our brand protection service.
How to enforce IP rights on design and patents
Enforcing IP rights on design and patents involves a combination of strategic and legal actions aimed at preventing and deterring unauthorised use of your intellectual property.
Once you’ve identified a potential infringement, following these key steps can help enforce your legal rights.
1. Gather evidence
Collect samples or copies of the product
Obtain physical or digital copies of the infringing products or services. It might be frustrating to give the counterfeiters money, but these items will prove a valuable asset should you start legal proceedings.
Document the infringement
Take screenshots, record relevant information, and keep a detailed log of your findings. People can quickly edit or delete online listings, so evidence that it existed will give you additional protection should the case go to court.
2. Check the selling terms and conditions of the platform(s) where the infringement is occurring
Mainstream selling marketplaces, like Amazon and Etsy, often have strict seller terms that aim to protect IP owners.
We’ve put together How To Guides for each of the following platforms, providing guidance on removing counterfeit products:
3. Send a ‘Cease and Desist’ letter
Your ability to do this will depend on the terms of the seller’s platform. For example, your process may be slightly different for independent websites that don’t have official terms to adhere to.
To send a ‘cease and desist’:
- Formalise your complaint: clearly outline the nature of the infringement, and demand that the infringer cease and desist from their actions: that is, stop doing it.
- Provide evidence: Attach supporting documentation to strengthen your claim. This will include the screenshots you took in step one, and some photographs of the item in your possession.
- Consider mediation or negotiation: explore alternative dispute resolution options to resolve the matter without resorting to litigation.
4. Consider legal action
If your cease and desist letter has no result, and if the infringer refuses mediation, it’s time to take advantage of the legal protection your patents afford you.
Start by consulting a legal expert, ideally an intellectual property lawyer who specialises in the relevant jurisdiction.
Remember: Enforcing IP rights can be a complex and time-consuming process. It is essential to seek legal advice and consider the costs and potential benefits before taking action.
How SnapDragon can help you monitor and enforce your brand’s IP rights
SnapDragon Monitoring provides a comprehensive approach to monitoring and enforcing threats to Design and Patent IP rights. Our brand protection software consists of advanced tools that comb worldwide marketplaces, domains, websites, social media, app stores and even NFTs to find illicit copies of your designs and patents.
Ultimately, SnapDragon ensures a thorough approach. It’s a more efficient enforcement process than would be possible with just Google Alerts and a few hours each day browsing social media sites and e-commerce marketplaces. Additionally, enforcement using notice of takedown procedures is much cheaper and faster than taking legal action.
It saves your business time, while protecting your brand perception and revenue.
How do Snapdragon’s advanced tools work?
- Scan online marketplaces: SnapDragon’s software searches major e-commerce platforms, social media channels, and online marketplaces for products that may infringe on your Design or Patent rights.
- Identify infringing products: The platform uses image recognition and text analysis to compare potential infringing products to your protected IP.
- Track infringement trends: SnapDragon allows you to monitor infringement trends over time, helping you to identify emerging threats and adjust your monitoring strategies accordingly.
- Provide detailed reports: The platform generates detailed reports that include information about infringing products, sellers, and marketplaces, enabling you to take targeted action.
- Rapid enforcement: SnapDragon leverages notice of takedown procedures by providing evidence and contacting online platforms to have infringing products removed.
- Integrate with existing systems: SnapDragon can integrate with your existing IP management systems, streamlining your monitoring and enforcement processes.
Don’t leave design and patent protection to chance
Protecting your designs and patents is essential to maintaining your brand’s unique identity, competitive advantage, and financial growth. By actively monitoring the market and enforcing your IP rights, you can prevent unauthorised use, preserve your market share, and build lasting trust with your customers.
With the right tools and strategies in place, safeguarding your intellectual property becomes a manageable and rewarding part of your brand’s success: ensuring that the hard work invested in innovation remains exclusively yours.
It can be time-consuming to conduct regular audits, monitor online marketplaces and stay on top of copycats. SnapDragon can save you time, and provide a thorough service using powerful tools.
Find out how we can help your brand with intellectual property management: book your free consultation
