How are industrial designs protected?
In most countries, an industrial design needs to be registered in order to be protected under industrial design law as a “registered design”.
In some countries, industrial designs are protected under patent law as “design patents”.
Industrial design laws in some countries grant; – without registration – time – and scope limited protection to so called “unregistered industrial designs”.
Depending on the particular national law and the kind of design, industrial designs may also be protected as works of art under copyright law.