Packaging: How to Take Legal Action to Protect Brand Packaging

While it is common knowledge that a business’s name and logo can be trademarked, protecting the packaging from being replicated by competitors is also important. When you create customized product packaging for your business, the last thing you want is everyone else copying its look and feel.

Fortunately, there are legal actions to protect packaging designs. If you’re interested in protecting your brand packaging, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to learn about the different laws that can help.

Copyright

The copyright law exists to protect all sorts of creative works, and that also includes your product packaging. However, to qualify for protection under copyright, your packaging must have some unique elements. For instance, if you use a round paper food container, you won’t get copyright protection. However, the design can be protected if the packaging has a unique shape or custom prints exclusive to your business.

That is to say, other businesses can use a similar packaging shape, but your creative work put into the print design will remain yours alone.

Patent

Patents don’t only exist to protect one-of-a-kind inventions. Patents are one of the best legal actions to protect packaging. However, a patent only offers protection for 15 years, and before obtaining one, the design must be reviewed by an examiner that works with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

But creating patents isn’t simple. The packaging design you want to protect must be unique and should not have been used before, even by you. During the time your brand packaging is patented, no other business can copy it.

Trade Dress

Trade dress is commonly known as a trademark. It is used to identify a packaging design similar to an existing one. However, to obtain a trademark, you must show a unique element that distinguishes your design from others to avoid confusion.

Get Customized Packaging for Your Brand

There are three legal actions to protect packaging design from being reproduced. But before that, coming up with a unique design is essential.

If you want custom packaging for your food brand, contact Custom Cup Factory. You can find a variety of packaging shapes and materials, including paper cups and cup sleeves, that can be custom printed to make them unique to your business.