Legal Definitions - design

In legal contexts, the term design can refer to several distinct concepts:

• It can mean a plan or scheme developed for a particular purpose or outcome.
• More specifically, especially in criminal law, it refers to a deliberate and fixed intention to commit a wrongful act, such as causing harm or death. This implies a conscious decision and a planned course of action, even if the specific details are not fully worked out at the time.
• In intellectual property law, particularly concerning patents, design refers to the unique visual or aesthetic characteristics of an item, such as its shape, pattern, or ornamentation. This kind of design is primarily decorative and can be legally protected to prevent others from copying the appearance of a product.

Examples:

• Criminal Intent: A person spends weeks researching the layout of a jewelry store, studying its security camera blind spots, and acquiring tools specifically for breaking into it after hours. This individual has a design to commit burglary.

  Explanation: This illustrates "design" in the criminal law sense because the individual formed a deliberate and fixed intention to commit a crime. The detailed planning and preparation, such as researching the store and acquiring tools, demonstrate a conscious scheme to execute the burglary, rather than a spontaneous act.

• Intellectual Property: A shoe manufacturer develops a new athletic sneaker featuring a distinctive wave-like pattern on its sole and a unique, sculpted shape for its upper material, which are purely for aesthetic appeal.

  Explanation: This demonstrates "design" in the intellectual property context. The manufacturer could seek a design patent for the shoe's novel and non-obvious ornamental features. The unique pattern on the sole and the sculpted shape are part of the shoe's visual "design," which, if protected, would prevent competitors from manufacturing shoes with the same decorative appearance.

• General Legal Planning: A city council drafts a comprehensive urban development plan, outlining zones for residential, commercial, and industrial use, specifying infrastructure projects, and setting environmental protection guidelines for the next decade.

  Explanation: Here, "design" refers to the detailed plan or scheme laid out in the urban development document. It represents the city council's carefully considered structure and framework for how the city will grow and operate legally and functionally, reflecting their collective intention and strategy for future development.