What is design right?

Registration protects your design.

When you register your design, you secure yourself an exclusive right to it. You can prohibit others from capitalising on your design by, for example, manufacturing, importing or exporting products that match the design.

Design rights are mainly used in business, but they can also be applied for or owned by private persons.

Design right only protects the appearance of a product and not, for instance, the technical solutions involved in it.

The following examples show different kinds of products protected by design right.

Example 1: Chair

Example 2: Detail of a chair

Example 3: Textiles and wallpapers

Example 4: Icons

Example 5: Buildings

Example 6: Logos

Drawings by Atte Uotila, Markkinointitoimisto Kitchen, 2017