Industrial Design Protection In The United States Of America

Industry in the United States of America has shown an increased interest in industrial design protection. This conclusion is based on several recent developments, including significant court decisions and an increased number of design patent applications received by the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Another important fact is the renewed effort to improve industrial design protection, by adding an additional form of industrial designs intellectual property law. The basic intellectual property law (hereinafter all reference to the law will be U.S.A. law unless otherwise indicated) available now for industrial design protection is the design patent, but there has been significant use of trademark law and some copyright law for certain designs. The consensus in the legal community and many industries is that a better way is needed to protect industrial designs. Generally, the present systems take too long to obtain protection. These rights are difficult to enforce in court and, usually, it is not clear what industrial design features are protected.