Innovation is the key to social development, but also the key to enterprise development. In a market full of competition and rapid development, without the innovation of keeping pace with The Times, enterprises will be rolled under the wheel of development in an instant. As far as innovation is concerned, operators can usually be divided into two categories: one is constantly innovating and leading innovation; The other is the habit of imitation, follow the copy. When the operator develops the habit of continuous innovation, its innovation ability will become stronger and stronger, and the competitive advantage will become more and more obvious. When operators develop the habit of imitation and plagiarism, they will lose the ability to innovate to a certain extent, and the competitive disadvantage is getting bigger and bigger. Innovation will form a habit, imitation will become a habit; The former is a virtuous circle, the latter is a vicious circle, the final result is to achieve the survival of the fittest in the competition. If an enterprise wants to develop, it must innovate constantly. As stated in the article "Product Trademarks for Intellectual Property Protection in Product Innovation", in the consumer goods industry, product innovation is mainly reflected in three aspects: trademark, outer packaging and product formulation. As far as the appearance innovation of the product is concerned, although it does not essentially change the performance or function of the product, it is undeniable that the appearance innovation of the product also determines the realization of the sales destination to a large extent. Consumer goods brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Apple, Huawei, OPPO, and so on, have innovated and changed in appearance, vividly and vividly marking the importance of product appearance. In the fierce market competition, whether an enterprise can protect its intellectual property right while innovating its product appearance is as important as the innovation itself. Product appearance intellectual property protection is not in place, will also lead to operators face a huge business risk for others to make wedding clothes, and even cause great legal risks. This paper will discuss the protection of intellectual property rights of product appearance in enterprise product innovation for reference of business operators.

In consumer product innovation, product appearance level is as important as product strength. Novel product appearance, product flower box, product bottle type, product packaging containers, etc., are contributing more and more to the sales of enterprises. Product appearance is an important asset and an important competitive resource for enterprises. Protecting product design is an important part of intellectual property protection for consumer goods enterprises. What is product design? Product appearance design refers to the shape or pattern of the product or its combination, as well as the combination of color and shape, pattern to make a new design of beauty and suitable for industrial applications. The protection of product appearance is more realized through design patents and unique packaging and decoration of well-known products, especially design patents. If an enterprise's design is patented, it can obtain strong legal protection. After the patent right for a design has been granted, no entity or individual may, without the permission of the patentee, exploit the patent, that is, make, offer to sell, sell or import the product patented for its design for production or business purposes. If an enterprise design wants to enjoy the design patent right, it must meet two conditions: novelty and registration. Novelty means that the design does not belong to the existing design; Nor has any entity or individual filed an application with the patent administration department under The State Council for the same design before the date of filing, which is recorded in the patent application documents published or published after the date of filing. Registration means that according to the provisions of China's patent law, the design patent can be enjoyed after the application and approval of the design patent registration, rather than automatically enjoy the right after the design is completed. No entity or individual has a patent right for a design that does not have novelty or is not authorized to register, and in principle any entity or individual can imitate and copy.

In the protection of product design patents, the easiest pit for enterprises to step on is to disclose the design before application, including but not limited to product display, product listing, media disclosure, wechat circle of friends disclosure, etc. Many design patents are due to the self-disclosure of the design before the application, resulting in the loss of novelty, which leads to the invalidation of the patent. CROCS, a Colorado-based shoe designer, manufacturer and retailer, has launched a colorful line of CROCS comfort shoes that many consumers are accustomed to calling "Crocs." CROCS shoes were founded in 2002, the original product market was targeted at sailing and outdoor sports, and later because it is comfortable to wear, it has been favored by different consumers. Although some consumers think that the brand shoes are very ugly, there is no denying that the product is very ugly and is a very successful product innovation. As a result, CROCS tried to register the design as a patent, but the European Patent Office refused. Why is that? The reason is that the design was made public prior to registration. On 14 March 2018, the General Court of the European Union upheld an earlier decision by the European Intellectual Property Office that the CROCS design was invalid. The disclosure described by the court includes three aspects: the company itself displays the design on the website; The company itself showed the design at a boat show in Florida; Footwear with the design is already on sale. The loss of CROCS 'design patent means the loss of a "protective weapon" against friends copying its plastic shoes, and the economic loss is huge. This case tells us that operators or designers should carefully consider the issue of product design protection before disclosing product design schemes.

The appearance of some products does not meet the conditions for applying for a design patent due to public reasons, but it is also protected by law if it meets certain conditions. China's Anti-Unfair Competition Law stipulates that business operators shall not use without authorization the same or similar marks on the packaging and decoration of goods that have a certain influence on others, so that people will be mistaken for other people's goods or have a specific connection with others. A business operator whose lawful rights and interests have been harmed by an act of unfair competition may bring a suit in a people's court. Of course, it needs to be emphasized that product packaging and decoration must require a certain impact. For example, the unique body, roof, Windows, side panels and rear light design of the Range Rover Evoque model of Jaguar Land Rover has become the unique decoration of the model. Although Jaguar Land Rover does not enjoy the design patent of the model, it has become an important identifying factor of Range Rover Evoque model. After the long-term publicity and use of Jaguar Land Rover Company, the relevant public can link the shape structure decoration used by the "Range Rover Evoque" car with the specific model of Jaguar Land Rover company, so as to identify the source of the product, so the "Range Rover Evoque" model appearance as a shape decoration belongs to the "decoration with a certain impact" protected by the anti-unfair competition law. The shape decoration of Jiangling's "Land Wind X7" car is similar to that of the "Range Rover Evoque" car in the overall visual effect, including five specific designs, such as the floating roof, the lower roof, the rising feature lines, the engine cover, and the vehicle outline. Jiangling's "Land Wind X7" car uses the decoration of Jaguar Land Rover's "Range Rover Evoque" car. The shape decoration used by Jiangling on the Land Wind X7 is enough to cause confusion and misidentification between its Land Wind X7 and Jaguar Land Rover's Range Rover Evoque by the concerned public. In the end, the Beijing Chaoyang District Court ordered Jiangling to immediately stop the acts of unfair competition involved, including the production, display, pre-sale and sale of JX7200 and JX7200L cars named "Land Wind X7", eliminate the impact and compensate Jaguar Land Rover for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling 1.5 million yuan; Dachang Landwind immediately stopped the unfair competition practices involved, including stopping the display, pre-sale and sale of vehicles with product names of "Landwind X7" and product models of JX7200 and JX7200L.

As mentioned above, product design is an important identification of the source of goods, is the most important part of the brand, and is an important asset of the operator. The original product design can not only attract the attention of consumers, but also bring consumers the impulse to consume, and then better realize the commercial value. With the development of economy, the importance of commodity appearance design in commercial operation is becoming increasingly prominent and more and more important. Therefore, in product innovation, enterprises should not only pay attention to product appearance innovation, but also pay attention to product appearance design protection.