In most countries, an Industrial Design must be registered in order to be protected under Industrial Design law. As a general rule, to be registrable, the design must be “new” or “original”. Different countries have varying definitions of such terms, as well as variations in the registration process itself. Generally, “new” means that no identical or very similar design is known to have existed before. Once a design is registered, a registration certificate is issued. Depending on the particular national law and the kind of design, an Industrial Design may also be protected as a work of art under copyright law. In which case registration is not required. In some countries, Industrial Design and copyright protection can exist concurrently. 

In other countries, they are mutually exclusive: once the owner chooses one kind of protection, he can no longer invoke the other. In certain countries, an Industrial Design may also be protected against imitation under unfair competition law.  The owner of a protected Industrial Design is granted the right to prevent unauthorized copying or imitation of the design by others. This includes the right of making, offering, importing, exporting or selling any product in which the design is incorporated or to which it is applied.  He may also license or authorize others to use the design on mutually agreed terms. The owner may also sell the right to the Industrial Design to someone else. The term of protection under Industrial Design laws is generally five years, with the possibility of further periods of renewal up to, in most cases, 15 years. Generally, Industrial Design protection is limited to the country in which protection is granted.