Filing an industrial design application without first assessing novelty and clearance is a costly and avoidable risk. A design that has been previously registered or publicly disclosed cannot be validly registered, and launching a product without clearing existing design rights can expose your business to infringement claims, injunctions, and market withdrawal.
Legacy Partners provides five core design search and assessment services that together form the essential due diligence foundation for any design registration programme or product launch decision.
A design availability search takes 5–10 business days and can prevent years of litigation, forced product redesign, and market withdrawal costs. It is an investment that almost always costs a fraction of the risk it prevents.
A design availability search, also called a design clearance search, examines existing registered designs in the target jurisdiction to determine whether a similar design has already been registered by a third party. Unlike a novelty search, which focuses on prior public disclosure anywhere in the world, an availability search specifically targets registered rights that could legally conflict with or block your design in a specific commercial market.
Databases and Sources We Search
Design Availability Search Report: We deliver a structured professional report identifying designs similar to yours, with an assessment of visual similarity, likelihood of legal conflict, and recommended next steps.
A prior design search examines all forms of prior public disclosure that could affect the novelty of your design, including trade catalogues, exhibition records, e commerce listings, academic publications, and archived product pages. Novelty is assessed globally: a design disclosed at a trade fair in Germany or listed on Alibaba can destroy the novelty of a UAE design application.
We examine: Global patent/design databases, industrial product catalogues, trade fair records (e.g., Ambiente, CES, Automechanika, INDEX Dubai), e commerce platforms (Amazon, Alibaba, Noon), manufacturer websites, and academic publications.
A novelty assessment is a written professional opinion on whether an industrial design meets the legal novelty requirement for registration in a target jurisdiction.
| Jurisdiction | Novelty Standard | Grace Period |
|---|---|---|
| UAE | Global novelty | 12 month grace period for applicant's own disclosures |
| Saudi Arabia | Global novelty | 6 month grace period in limited circumstances |
| Oman | Global novelty | No general grace period |
| Qatar | Global novelty | Limited grace period provisions |
| Kuwait | Global novelty | No formal grace period |
| WIPO Hague | Assessed per designated country | Varies by jurisdiction |
Deliverables: We analyze if the design is new relative to all prior art, identify potentially invalidating disclosures, evaluate grace period exceptions, and recommend claim strategies to maximize novelty distance.
A registrability opinion provides a complete legal assessment evaluating all grounds on which an application may be refused. We assess Novelty, Individual Character, Functionality (the design must not be purely functional), Public order and morality, Classification accuracy, and Representation quality.
A registrability opinion before filing significantly reduces the risk of wasted filing fees, unnecessary examiner objections, and abandoned applications.
A holistic view of legal and commercial risks, combining novelty assessment, freedom to operate analysis, and competitive intelligence.
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