RatnerPrestia’s Design Rights Group is dedicated to securing strategically important design protection in the United States and abroad. Innovative designs drive many consumer purchase decisions, so we use our experience and expertise to secure broad and enduring rights in those designs.

We appreciate the relationship among design and utility patent, registered trademark, trade dress, and copyright protections for design innovations. Using these protections in concert, we work closely with our clients to develop and implement strategies that secure comprehensive design rights.

Our team of attorneys and staff handles the preparation and prosecution of design patent applications in a systematic and cost-effective manner. We collaborate with Patent Office design patent examiners and use their procedures to expedite the patenting process. When it is commercially important to our domestic clients, we also secure design protection globally using a select network of foreign agents.

In addition to protecting design innovations, RatnerPrestia’s Design Rights Group helps our clients to identify and mitigate infringement risks proactively. We also coordinate with other practice areas of the firm to:

• Enforce and defend our clients’ design rights in U.S. District Courts
• Develop cost-effective programs for challenging design knock-offs
• Analyze infringement or validity of third-party design rights
• Register trademarks to protect designs that have become strong source identifiers
• Register copyrights to protect designs as artistic works
• Structure and negotiate agreements that transfer design rights

Our design-forward clients represent the full spectrum of product categories. They include appliance designs, athletic wear and clothing designs, automotive designs, hardware and tool designs, household goods designs, jewelry designs, medical device designs, package and display designs, sporting goods designs, and vehicle component designs, among others.