When you register the design of your product, this means you can prevent others from copying the appearance. Even if the copied design is a whole different product. Let us give you an example we ran into in a store yesterday.
KitchenAid makes kitchen appliances. One of them, the Tilt-Head Stand Mixer, has become a kitchen icon. With its premium metallic finish, available in a large number of fancy colours, this product will look amazing on your kitchen countertop, even if you cannot even boil water.
Yesterday, we saw this cute thing: a kitchen alarm. But look at the shape: that’s the KitchenAid mixer, isn’t it?
We don’t know if the design is protected, but this is something that the owner of a registered design can act against. Even if the challenged design is not a mixer, in this case. Even if it has nothing to do with the kitchen – say it was a pencil sharpener – the design is protected.
Don’t forget to register your product designs. They may become iconic!
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