Design Invalidity Search: A Shield for Your Creations
In the realm of intellectual property, design registrations are valuable assets that protect the unique visual appearance of products.
However, even after obtaining a design registration, it’s not uncommon for challenges to arise. Competitors might attempt to invalidate your registration, claiming that your design lacks novelty or originality. This is where a design invalidity search comes in.
What is a Design Invalidity Search?
A design invalidity search is a specialized investigation into prior art – existing designs, publications, or products – that predate your design registration.
The goal is to identify any evidence that could cast doubt on the validity of your design registration. 1 This search is crucial for both offensive and defensive strategies
Design invalidity searches aim to challenge the validity of a competitor’s design registration. This involves searching for prior art (existing designs or publications) that the examiner might have missed during the initial registration process.
Our researchers delve into design databases, catalogs, brochures, and the internet to uncover any information that might predate the competitor’s design. If we find such evidence, our clients can then challenge the validity of the competitor’s registration.
This service helps our clients eliminate competing designs, allowing them to use the design freely without legal concerns. Additionally, conducting an invalidity search on our own clients’ designs helps bolster their authenticity. A design certificate paired with an invalidity search demonstrating novelty provides strong evidence for the uniqueness of their design.