White Horse CAD provides advice on protecting your Intellectual Property
One question we often get asked when we design a new product for a client is, “Can this be patented?”.
White Horse CAD’s response to this is “there may be some features on the design that could be protected, but we suggest you talk to a patent attorney to get some professional advice regarding that. We also let clients know that the cost of patenting can very quickly run into thousands of pounds and takes up to five years to gain full protection. There are of course more cost-effective design protection options…
There is another option…
In some cases, the most appropriate method to protect a design is to apply for Registered Design Rights. This is much more cost-effective than a patent and only takes a few weeks. However, while registered design rights offer protection for the overall shape or form of a product it does not offer protection for individual features or mechanisms. If you would like to know more about the options available to protect your intellectual property take a look at the government website.
Having a registered design offers a good level of protection for the shape and configuration of a product. The current cost (April 2018) for registering a single design online is £50. However, you can register up to 10 designs for a total of £70. Each block of 10  designs (up to a maximum of 50 per application) cost an additional £20. More information on registering a design and current costs can be found here.
The process is relatively simple. Describe your product, add a few optional notes and then upload up to 12 images of the product. Then it’s a simple case of registering your personal or company details and making the payment.
If you would like some help with registering a design, please contact us. We are more than happy to point you in the right direction. If you need CAD images or renders for your new product White Horse CAD can give you a competitive, fixed price quotation.
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