Protecting a Jewellery or Watch Brand: A Practitioner's Guide to Design Filings, Hallmarks, Serialisation, Resale, and Counterfeits
By Casey Scott McKay ·
This guide is for counsel responsible for a jewellery or watch brand. It is built around a fact that shapes everything else: the designs that matter most are the ones that have not changed, and design patents expire long before they stop being valuable. The guide starts with the filing programme and the secondary meaning record that has to be built alongside it, because the trade dress claim of 2040 depends on evidence gathered now. It then addresses hallmarking and gemstone disclosure, which land on the same objects as the trademarks and are handled by different people. Serialisation, the archive, and the resale and modification questions that arise after the brand's rights are exhausted follow. It closes with the authentication economy, a counterfeit programme aimed at components rather than only at sellers, and the licensing and chain of title work a house of any age eventually needs.
IP and Technology > Trademarks | Guide | Published 14 October 2023 - Updated 17 May 2025 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. This guide is for counsel responsible for a jewellery or watch brand, and it is built around a fact that shapes everything else: the designs that matter most are the ones that have not changed, and design patents expire long before they stop being valuable. It starts with the filing programme and the secondary meaning record that must be built alongside it, because the trade dress claim of 2040 depends on evidence gathered now. It then addresses hallmarking and gemstone disclosure, serialisation and the archive, the resale and modification questions that arise after the brand's rights are exhausted, the authentication economy, and a counterfeit programme aimed at components.
Keywords: jewellery brand protection · design patent layering · secondary meaning file · functionality documentation · position marks · hallmark compliance · gemstone disclosure · serialisation records · modification policy · quality control programme · authorised dealer terms · authentication cooperation · counterfeit component enforcement · archive management · heritage chain of title
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