Protecting and enforcing industrial design rights in Israel — for brand owners, design-driven businesses, and international IP firms.
In many industries, design is the product. The shape of a chair, the silhouette of a sneaker, the contours of a phone, the arrangement of a watch dial, the geometry of a packaging bottle — these are the visual decisions that buyers recognise on the shelf and that competitors copy when they can. For design-led businesses in fashion, consumer goods, furniture, jewellery, toys, electronics, and industrial products, the appearance of the product is the commercial asset most exposed to imitation, and the one most in need of decisive legal protection.
Gershoni & Co. advises brand owners, manufacturers, and international IP firms on the full life-cycle of design protection in Israel — from the initial decision about what to register and how, through national and international filing strategy, to the enforcement action that matters most when knock-off products appear in the Israeli market or enter through its ports. Israel’s modern Designs Law, 5777-2017, and its accession to the Hague Agreement on industrial designs, have made the jurisdiction materially more attractive for international rights holders — and the enforcement tools available in the District Courts and at the Customs Authority make registered design rights genuinely worth having.
Design enforcement at the firm is led by Adv. Sa’ar Gershoni — founder and managing attorney, and the firm’s lead IP litigator. With an LL.M. in Law and Technology, INTA membership, and authorship of a Supreme Court-cited work on parallel importation and intellectual property, he brings direct experience of the commercial and cross-border dimensions that define contemporary design disputes — in particular the imported-knock-off and parallel-import cases where design rights, customs enforcement, and trademark law overlap. He is supported in design prosecution and opposition work by Adv. Avishay Bigman, head of the firm’s prosecution practice and contributor of the INTA Opposition Guide chapter on Israel, whose fifteen-plus years of experience before the Israel Patent Office — which houses the Designs Department and the Registrar who examines and hears opposition to design applications — directly underpins the firm’s registration and opposition work. On contested matters in the courts, the team is reinforced by Adv. Raanan Ben-Ishai, whose fifteen-plus years of civil litigation experience and judicial clerkship at the Israeli Supreme Court support the preliminary-injunction and trial work that design infringement actions demand.
→ Design enforcement led by Adv. Sa’ar Gershoni · founder, Supreme Court-cited IP author
→ Prosecution and opposition support from the firm’s 15+ year ILPO practitioner
→ Full coverage: registration · Hague system · opposition · infringement · customs
→ Regular Israeli correspondent counsel for international IP firms and multinational brand owners
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At first, I was skeptical—just another lawyer making promises I doubted would be kept. Saar Gershoni proved me completely wrong. He explained exactly how to prove the copyright infringement on my video, documented everything professionally, , and the competitor removed the video and issued a written apology. He was patient and attentive despite my initial doubts, and in the end
A personal story: I ran into a small-but-urgent problem and started checking a few options on Google. Saar was the first I reached out to because of his informative content, and he replied on WhatsApp within 2 minutes. A 5-minute phone call and a two-hour wait later, what seemed like it would take months was resolved quickly and smoothly. Truly amazing. Thank you again!
DESIGN RIGHTS IN PRACTICE
Why registered design rights matter
A registered design is the most precise legal tool available for protecting the visual appearance of a product. Patents protect the technical invention inside the product; trademarks protect the indicator of commercial origin; copyright protects artistic works with an independent aesthetic character. None of these, on its own, reliably covers the specific contours, shapes, ornamentation, colour combinations, and surface patterns that give an industrial product its market-facing identity. That is the work registered design rights were created to do.
For brand owners and design-driven businesses, a registered Israeli design delivers something that unregistered alternatives typically cannot: a clearly defined, formally dated, government-issued right that functions as the basis for a rapid enforcement response. When a copycat product appears on a shelf, on an e-commerce platform, or in a shipping container, the existence of an Israeli registered design transforms the enforcement question from a complex evidentiary reconstruction of first-use and substantial similarity into a comparatively direct infringement analysis.
A single asset, multiple rights
Effective protection of an industrial design rarely depends on one right in isolation. We work with clients to structure overlapping protection across design registration, trademark (including three-dimensional and trade-dress marks), copyright for artistic elements, patent rights for technical features, and the Israeli commercial torts framework addressing passing-off and unfair competition. The package is designed to ensure that an infringer faces the best available ground of attack in the specific circumstances of the infringement — not only the ground that was filed first.
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WHAT WE DO
End-to-end design support
We advise at every stage of the design life-cycle — from pre-launch clearance and filing strategy, through prosecution and portfolio management, to enforcement when infringement occurs. Our clients include Israeli designers and consumer-goods companies protecting their portfolios domestically and internationally, multinational brand owners addressing copy-cat products in the Israeli market, and foreign IP firms and trademark attorneys who engage us as Israeli correspondent counsel on design matters.
Clearance, filing strategy, and prosecution
Before a design is filed, the right strategy matters. We advise on what elements of the product are worth protecting, how to combine multiple design applications for the same product line (for example, to cover both the overall appearance and specific ornamental features), and how to structure the filing programme in light of the client’s commercial plans — including planned product launches, rollout sequences across markets, and the interaction between design registration and marketing disclosures.
We manage the full prosecution process before the Designs Department of the Israel Patent Office: preparation of the application, submission of the visual material (drawings or photographs from the required angles, the quality of which is critical to the scope of protection actually obtained), managing examination, and responding to office actions. Adv. Bigman’s deep familiarity with ILPO practice, built over fifteen years of appearing before the Registrar across trademark, opposition, and related proceedings, directly supports this work.
International filing strategy and the Hague system
Design protection, like other IP rights, is territorial. Israel’s accession to the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs — effective in January 2020 — made it materially easier for rights holders to obtain design protection in Israel and across multiple jurisdictions through a single centralised WIPO application. We advise on the full range of international filing options available to Israeli and foreign clients: direct national filings in key markets, Hague applications designating Israel from abroad, Hague applications originating in Israel and designating other Hague-member jurisdictions, and the strategic interaction between these routes.
For foreign rights holders designating Israel through a Hague application, we manage the Israeli national phase — including responses to any refusals issued by the Israel Patent Office — and coordinate the Israeli portfolio with the broader international filing programme. For Israeli rights holders filing abroad, we work with a trusted network of correspondent firms across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.
Opposition, cancellation, and appeals
Third parties may oppose the registration of an Israeli design application within the statutory opposition window, and registered designs may be challenged by cancellation proceedings on grounds including lack of novelty, insufficient individual character, and ineligibility for design protection. Opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Registrar are adversarial and evidence-based, turning on the correct characterisation of the design corpus, the informed-user perspective, and the precise scope of the registered design.
Adv. Bigman’s authorship of the INTA Opposition Guide chapter on Israel reflects a depth of opposition experience that translates directly to the design forum. We represent both applicants defending their design applications against opposition and parties opposing third-party designs that conflict with their rights. We also pursue and defend cancellation actions against registered designs, and handle appeals to the District Courts from decisions of the Registrar.
Licensing, assignments, and transactions
Design rights are commercial assets that can be monetised through licensing, transferred by assignment, or integrated into broader commercial transactions. We draft and negotiate design licence agreements — exclusive and non-exclusive, field-of-use limited, royalty-bearing or paid-up — assignment deeds, co-existence agreements, and the design-specific provisions of broader IP licence, manufacturing, and distribution arrangements. In M&A and investment due diligence, we assess the scope, validity, and enforceability of Israeli design portfolios and flag the practical implications for transaction structures.
ENFORCEMENT
When designs are copied or imitated
The value of a design registration is determined, in large part, by the speed and skill with which it is enforced. Copy-cat products reach the Israeli market through multiple channels — direct importation by competitors, grey-market routes, large-scale counterfeit operations, and online platforms listing infringing products to Israeli consumers. Responding effectively requires command of all the enforcement tools available under Israeli law: civil litigation, customs seizure, online takedown, and — in appropriate cases — criminal referral. Our design enforcement practice is led by Adv. Sa’ar Gershoni, whose background in cross-border IP enforcement and parallel-import litigation directly informs the cases that typically arise.
Civil litigation and preliminary injunctions
When infringement is identified, we assess the most effective enforcement route and move quickly. In straightforward cases, a formal cease-and-desist demand resolves the matter. Where infringement is ongoing, the commercial stakes are significant, or the risk of continuing harm is immediate, we proceed to court without delay.
The Israeli District Courts have jurisdiction to grant preliminary injunctions — including ex parte preliminary injunctions obtained without prior notice to the defendant — in design infringement cases where delay would cause irreparable harm. This mechanism is particularly valuable in design matters, where the market window for a copied product may be short, and where delay in obtaining relief allows the infringer to extract commercial value that is difficult to recover later. We have extensive experience in preparing the affidavit evidence that ex parte applications require, establishing the legal threshold, and presenting urgent applications before the court at short notice.
At the substantive stage, a successful claimant may obtain a permanent injunction, damages, an account of the infringer’s profits, and delivery-up or destruction of infringing products. Adv. Gershoni leads these matters, supported by Adv. Ben-Ishai’s civil litigation and Supreme Court experience where the scale or complexity of the proceeding warrants additional trial capability.
Design enforcement sits at the intersection of IP law, cross-border trade, and commercial urgency — the precise profile of matters Adv. Gershoni has handled for fifteen years, and on which his book on parallel importation is authoritative.
Customs enforcement at the border
The Israeli Customs Authority has statutory powers to detain goods suspected of infringing registered design rights at the border. For international brand owners and consumer-goods companies confronting imported knock-offs and counterfeit shipments, customs enforcement is often the most efficient first line of defence — stopping infringing goods at the port before they reach the Israeli market at all.
We handle the recordal process with the Customs Authority, liaise directly with customs officers on specific detained shipments, advise on whether detained goods infringe the recorded design, and manage the legal proceedings that follow. Adv. Gershoni — whose expertise in parallel importation and cross-border IP enforcement is formally recognised at Supreme Court level — leads this area of practice for the firm.
Online enforcement and platform takedowns
A large and growing share of design infringement reaches the Israeli market through e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, and social-commerce channels. We handle takedown notices and correspondence with hosting providers and platforms, John Doe proceedings to compel disclosure of the identity of anonymous infringers, and — where the commercial stakes justify it — full civil proceedings against identified infringers.
Passing off and unfair competition
Even where a registered design right is not available or does not precisely cover the infringing conduct, Israeli law provides additional routes: passing-off claims under the Commercial Torts Law, 5759-1999, addressing cases where a copy-cat product creates a misleading commercial association with the original; and unfair competition claims addressing exploitation of the goodwill built up around a distinctive product appearance. We deploy these routes in combination with registered design enforcement to build the strongest available case on the specific facts of the infringement.
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ISRAEL AS A DESIGN JURISDICTION
What international practitioners need to know
Israel’s design protection regime was modernised by the Designs Law, 5777-2017, which replaced the pre-State Patents and Designs Ordinance of 1924 and brought Israeli design law into alignment with contemporary international standards. A few features are worth setting out for foreign practitioners unfamiliar with the jurisdiction.
- Governing statute — The Designs Law, 5777-2017, and the regulations thereunder. The Designs Department of the Israel Patent Office, headed by the Registrar of Designs, examines applications and conducts opposition and cancellation proceedings.
- What is protectable — A design is defined as the appearance of a product, or part of a product, resulting from its visual features — including shape, contours, colour, texture, pattern, and ornamentation. Industrial and handicraft products across virtually every consumer category are eligible: fashion, footwear, furniture, jewellery, toys, kitchenware, tools, packaging, electronics, vehicles, and more.
- Registration requirements — A registrable design must be new (not previously disclosed to the public) and must possess individual character (producing, on the informed user, an overall impression different from that produced by earlier designs). Technical features dictated solely by function are not protectable.
- Term of protection — A registered design is initially protected for five years from the filing date of the application, renewable for further five-year periods up to a maximum of twenty-five years in total.
- Hague Agreement — Israel has been a member of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs since January 2020. Foreign rights holders can designate Israel through a WIPO international application; Israeli applicants can use the Hague system to file abroad through a single centralised application.
- Paris Convention — Israel has been a member of the Paris Convention since 1950. Foreign applicants benefit from the standard six-month priority right for design applications, allowing filing in Israel within six months of the home-country filing date.
- Opposition and cancellation — The Designs Law provides for opposition to registration during the statutory opposition window and for post-registration cancellation on specified grounds, all before the Registrar in quasi-judicial proceedings.
- Enforcement landscape — Design infringement actions are heard by the District Courts, which are experienced in IP matters and willing to grant preliminary relief — including ex parte injunctions — where irreparable harm is shown. Customs enforcement is active and effective. Remedies include permanent injunctions, damages, an account of profits, and delivery-up or destruction of infringing goods.
- Unregistered design protection — Limited protection is available for unregistered designs for a short statutory period following first marketing, providing a fallback where registration has not been obtained — though registration remains the materially stronger route.
FOR FOREIGN LAW FIRMS
Your Israeli design correspondent
We regularly act as Israeli correspondent counsel for international IP firms and trademark attorneys managing multi-jurisdictional design portfolios. Correspondent work in design matters — particularly enforcement — rewards responsiveness, clarity, and sound judgment on local law delivered in a form that partners and in-house counsel in other jurisdictions can act on directly.
What working with us looks like in practice
- Direct partner access. Your point of contact is one of our three attorneys — Gershoni, Bigman, or Ben-Ishai — depending on the nature of the matter. Strategic decisions are taken on the first call, not escalated after the second.
- Same-day acknowledgement of instructions. Every instruction is acknowledged on the business day it is received, with an initial substantive view on timing and next steps — essential for enforcement matters where product launches or infringement windows create real time pressure.
- Reporting in your format. We work with the reporting formats, IP management systems, and docketing conventions that international firms and multinational in-house teams actually use.
- Substantive local-law advice. Our advice on Israeli design law is delivered in a form that practitioners elsewhere can action directly — not summaries that require further translation.
Our services for foreign firms
Israeli national-phase entries from Hague international registrations; responses to office actions and refusals at the Israel Patent Office; opposition and cancellation representation; appeals from Registrar decisions; design infringement proceedings — including ex parte preliminary injunctions — on behalf of international rights holders; customs recordal and enforcement against imported knock-offs; online takedown and platform enforcement; advisory opinions on the validity, scope, and enforceability of Israeli design rights; and coordination of Israeli design matters within broader multi-jurisdictional portfolios.
We maintain active working relationships with IP and design practitioners across Europe, the United States, and Asia-Pacific, and we are familiar with the systems and expectations of international practices — from global IP firms to design-focused boutiques to the in-house IP functions of multinational consumer-goods, fashion, and industrial businesses.
If you are considering or currently managing Israeli design matters for your clients, we welcome a direct conversation about how our team can support your practice.
Enforcement & litigation: Adv. Sa’ar Gershoni · Prosecution & opposition: Adv. Avishay Bigman · Trial support: Adv. Raanan Ben-Ishai
