The most powerful strategy for protecting the design of a physical product is the dual protection of a design patent and trade dress.
- Start with the patent: File the design patent application early for a 15-year period of exclusivity.
- Build the trade dress: Once your product has been around long enough for the public to recognize the design as an indicator of your brand, you have the acquired distinctiveness from secondary meaning needed for trade dress protection.
The Result: When the patent expires, your now-famous look is protected by your perpetually renewable trade dress trademark registration. It’s a seamlessly handed-off protection that ensures your unique product can be protected as long as it’s around.
Intellectual property is one of your most powerful business tools. If you’re ready to build a strong brand and protect what you create, you don’t have to figure it out alone.
I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property. I’m an attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, but I serve intellectual property clients nationwide.
Ready to protect your work? Book a consultation online at kingpatentlaw.com or call 217-714-8558.
For more information on intellectual property and business law, check out the other posts on this site, listen to my podcast “Spellbinding IP: Patent, Trademark, and Business Strategy” on all major podcast platforms (video available on YouTube, Spotify, and Substack), or follow me on social media at @kingpatentlaw.
Avoid the legal horrors, and keep rocking your IP.
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