Under
German law, the registered design (German: ''eingetragenes Design''), formerly called ''Geschmacksmuster'' ("aesthetic model"),
is a form of
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
that extends
industrial design rights
An industrial design right is an intellectual property right that protects the visual design of objects that are purely utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or color, or co ...
over the visual design of objects that is not purely utilitarian. The term of a ''Geschmacksmuster'' is twenty-five years (ยง 27 (2) GeschmMG), as it is for a
community design.
See also
*
Design patent
* ''
Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt
The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (german: Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt; abbreviation: DPMA) is the German national patent office, with headquarters in Munich, and offices in Berlin and Jena. In 2006 it employed 2556 people, of which a ...
'' (German Patent and Trade Mark Office)
*
EU Directive on the legal protection of designs
* ''
Gebrauchsmuster'' (German utility model)
*
Trade dress
Trade dress is the characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify the source of the product to consumers. Trade dress is an aspect of trademark law, which is a form of intell ...
References
External links
Designsat the ''Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt'' (German Patent and Trade Mark Office)
*
Deutsches Geschmacksmustergesetz(German Design Patent Law)
German intellectual property law
Industrial design
{{Germany-law-stub