Title 17 — CopyrightsRelease 119-73not60
§1306 Design Notice
Title 17 › Chapter 13— PROTECTION OF ORIGINAL DESIGNS › § 1306
Summary
When a design is made public under section 1310(b), the owner must, subject to section 1307, mark the item with one of these: Protected Design (Prot'd Des.), a circled D, or *D*, plus the year protection began and owner name or abbreviation; after registration, the registration number. The notice must be visible in normal commerce, and if the owner complied, others removing or destroying it does not end protection.
Full Legal Text
Title 17, §1306
Copyrights — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)(1)Whenever any design for which protection is sought under this chapter is made public under section 1310(b), the owner of the design shall, subject to the provisions of section 1307, mark it or have it marked legibly with a design notice consisting of—
(A)the words “Protected Design”, the abbreviation “Prot’d Des.”, or the letter “D” with a circle, or the symbol “*D*”;
(B)the year of the date on which protection for the design commenced; and
(C)the name of the owner, an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally accepted alternative designation of the owner.
(2)After registration, the registration number may be used instead of the elements specified in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1).
(b)The design notice shall be so located and applied as to give reasonable notice of design protection while the useful article embodying the design is passing through its normal channels of commerce.
(c)When the owner of a design has complied with the provisions of this section, protection under this chapter shall not be affected by the removal, destruction, or obliteration by others of the design notice on an article.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
17 U.S.C. § 1306
Title 17 — Copyrights
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60