Registered designs are monopoly rights that are granted on the outward appearance of an object. They protect the way an object looks - as opposed to patents that protect inventions, or the way in which an object is made or the manner in which it works.

A registered design allows the owner of the design to control the way in which the design is used. This includes the right to charge royalties for the use of the design and the ability to prevent competitors from using the design, or for copies of the design to enter the market.

Design legislation affords protection to registered designs. In South Africa we have the Designs Act, which differentiates between two different types of design registrations, namely:

• aesthetic designs
• functional designs.

It goes without saying that a design may have both aesthetic and functional features. These would be protected separately.

Generally speaking, aesthetic designs relate purely to the appearance of an article – what is commonly called the "eye appeal" of the article. This is in contrast to functional designs, which relate to features of design that are necessitated by the function of the article; in other words features that are not purely aesthetic.

In order to be registrable the design must be new. In deciding whether a design is new it is not only compared with designs that are available in South Africa but will all known designs in the world.

Functional designs have a further requirement that has to be met. In addition to being new the functional design must not be "commonplace". The intention here is to exclude everyday and obvious variations of known designs.

An important difference between patents and registered designs is that there is greater flexibility regarding the novelty requirement for registered designs as they allow for limited disclosure to have taken place before an application is made for the design registration. In South Africa, the design registration will not be compromised as long as an application is made for registration of the design within six months of the design having been released. The release of the design could take a number of forms, including publishing the design or sale of products that incorporate the design. There are however draw-backs to using this procedure and it is recommended that a design application be filed before any public disclosure is made.

An aesthetic design registration remains in force for 15 years while a functional design is registered for 10 years. Throughout the life of a registered design, renewal fees must be paid to keep it on the Register.

As with patents, separate design applications must be filed in each country where design protection is required. With registered designs the time periods for filing design applications are shorter. Final applications must be filed in each country within six months of the first application having been filed in South Africa.

There are also international agreements which make it possible to file a single application for registration of a design in a number of countries. The Hague Agreement provides for the registration of industrial designs in a number of jurisdictions by filing a single design application at WIPO in Geneva. Unfortunately, the Hague Agreement is currently not of much use to South African companies because South Africa is not a party to this agreement. The European Community Design, on the other hand, can provide cost-effective design protection in all countries that are members of the European Union, by filing one design application.

In as much as it only protects the appearance of an article, a registered design offers only a limited form of protection. This can nevertheless be extremely useful in specific circumstances. Registration prevents the blatant copying of a design and is often used in conjunction with other forms of intellectual property protection such as patents and trade marks. Together they provide an effective means of preventing commercial pirates and competitors from copying a design in which a substantial investment (both time and money) has been made.