A company should know how it acquired the rights to a product’s appearance before it files, licenses or enforces a design. Possession of drawings and payment for development are not a complete ownership record.
Identify the actual contributors
Record who created the appearance, whether they acted as employees or contractors and which entity engaged them. A product may incorporate contributions from several countries or from an agency using subcontractors. The relevant employment and design rules must be identified; an employment relationship should not be treated as a universal answer across jurisdictions and types of intellectual property.
Commissioning an outside studio
The agreement should identify the deliverables and the rights needed to manufacture, market, modify, license and enforce the design. Address the right to file in the company’s name, cooperation with formalities and permission to use preliminary work. Ask whether third-party materials are incorporated and what licences apply. A clause dealing only with delivery of source files can leave significant legal gaps.
Assignments and register records
An assignment should clearly identify the designs and applications concerned, the parties and the rights transferred. Check formal requirements and whether recordal is needed or commercially advisable in each jurisdiction. The register and the underlying transfer documents should tell a consistent story. A change of company name is not the same as a transfer to another legal entity.
Joint development and improvements
Separate background rights from new project results. Decide who may file, who bears costs, who may license to third parties and who controls enforcement or settlement. Address later improvements and departures of individual contributors. Joint ownership can create practical restrictions that vary by law; it should be chosen deliberately rather than left as the accidental result of unclear drafting.
Due diligence before a dispute
Before sending a demand, confirm the claimant’s entitlement and any exclusive licence or assignment relied upon. Missing documents can undermine standing or settlement authority. Before a business sale, identify gaps early enough to obtain signatures and record changes. Where a gap cannot be cured, allocate the risk expressly in the transaction.
Three practical situations
A freelancer designed the collection
The company has invoices but no clear rights clause. The review identifies the creator, the intended filing territories and the rights that must be documented before registration or licensing.
A group restructures
The product business moves to a new subsidiary while registrations remain with the old entity. The project requires a coordinated transfer and register update, not merely a new address.
Two suppliers develop a component
Each supplier contributes visible features and expects freedom to reuse them. A development agreement should resolve filing, manufacturing and reuse rights before the product is disclosed.
Discuss the next step
Send the product images, relevant documents, countries and any known deadline. We identify the scope of the assessment and confirm the proposed work, fees and any international coordination before taking the agreed steps.
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Legal resources
Official legal framework and guidance. Editorial review: 11 November 2026.