Event Highlights

Members of the Design Committee convene on the second day of APAA 2024 to discuss developments and advance strategies for registering package designs.

Spearheaded by Catherine Cheng from Hong Kong and Ben Yun from Korea as the chairmen, the Committee brainstormed on how to fill in the gaps in the current design registration in their respective jurisdictions to further the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights. Japan was lauded for being the country with the most registered design packages from 2020 to 2023 with 6,579 registrations. Members of the committee shared their country reports on the special topic – Think Outside the Box: Strategies for Registering Package Designs.
Among the topics discussed were how the requirement of substantial examination of design registration applications affects the period of application processing. Most of the country participants noted that the absence of substantive examination significantly sped up the grant of design registrations. The sophistications of every design registration were also discussed as to determine how design infringement could exist and how to better protect IP rights in packaging designs through understanding the relationship between designs and articles, as well as effective application tips specific to each jurisdiction.

Best practices on design registrations were likewise shared. In the United States, although substantive examination is required, the existence of laws protecting trade dress and design patent address the challenges on possible infringement. Likewise, the European Union’s statutes and mechanisms in place allow them to grant design registrations at a short period which is advantageous to IP rights holders.

Package design is a combination of design elements such as wrapping, containers, labels, and more, used to package products. They play an essential role in promoting product sales and differentiation, as a visual aspect of a product.