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V. Registered Designs

A registered design is concerned with the protection of the appearance of a finished product . It is a property right which gives the owner of the registered design the exclusive right to, among other things, make, import, sell, hire or offer or expose for sale or hire any article to which the design has been applied.

 

As defined in section 2 of the Registered Designs Ordinance (Cap. 522 of the Laws of Hong Kong), a "design" means features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article by any industrial process, being features which in the finished article appeal to the eye. A design can thus be two or three-dimensional, but it must have eye appeal. A design which is hidden in the finished article, or such that the aesthetic considerations of the finished article are not normally taken into account to a significant extent by the consumers, cannot be registered under this Ordinance.