An article’s appearance
An industrial design can involve a three-dimensional shape or two-dimensional patterns, lines and colors. The subject is appearance rather than an interchangeable description of the product’s technical operation.
Packaging, furniture, lighting, jewelry and textiles supply examples. WIPO also identifies graphical symbols and user interfaces as possible subjects, subject to the relevant legal requirements.
Registration and other arrangements
Many systems require registration, while some protect designs through design patents. Certain jurisdictions also provide limited unregistered protection, so a single registration rule cannot be assumed worldwide.
Protection generally addresses commercial articles bearing copied or substantially copied designs. The applicable system defines the boundary; membership in the same product category alone does not establish copying.
References: [1]
Relationships with other rights
Depending on national law, some designs can also qualify as artistic works under copyright. Such overlap does not make the two systems identical in eligibility, procedure or scope.
A product may additionally carry a trademark or employ patented technology. Separating appearance, source identification and technical solutions helps explain why one object can appear in several kinds of rights records.