Define: Design Features
Design Features refers to the aesthetic and functional elements of a product, structure, platform, or entity, such as layout, styling, materials, or user interface, that are described or protected under a contract. The term typically excludes proprietary marks like logos or trademarks, focusing instead on the tangible or visual attributes being created, licensed, or approved.
Legal accuracy standard set & glossary spot-checked by Imad Mohammed Nazar , Skadden-trained M&A lawyer, Legal Engineer at GenieAI
What Design Features Means in a Contract
Design Features is a defined term used to describe the aesthetic and functional components of a product, building, website, or other deliverable, without extending to proprietary marks such as trademarks, logos, or brand names. In practice, this means the term covers things like shape, color scheme, layout, materials, ergonomics, and user interface elements, while leaving trademark and branding matters to be addressed separately in the contract.
The distinction is important because design features and proprietary marks are often governed by different legal regimes and different intellectual property rights. Design features may be protected through design rights, copyright, or contractual confidentiality obligations, whereas proprietary marks are protected through trademark law. Contracts that separate these concepts avoid ambiguity about which rules apply to which elements.
This term commonly appears in agreements where one party is creating, licensing, or approving the appearance and functionality of something on behalf of another, such as a Relevant Circumstances