Hi cunningham,
It sounds like this is a
design right issue. It is ideal for the design of a practical item. There are two types of Design Right: registered and unregistered. Both apply to the shape or configuration of the item, rather than its function. Unregistered design right (UDR) comes into play automatically as soon as the product is made available to the public, provided that the design is original, that is to say, it is not commonplace or so similar to another design that a relatively attentive person would think they were the same. UDR lasts for 15 years from the date of the first design drawing or 10 years from the date the work was first made available to the public, which ever is the shorter. UDR does not protect any surface decoration, such as colour.
Registered Design Right (RDR) only applies once the design has been registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office (see details
here). RDR provides greater protection, firstly because it can also apply to surface decoration and provided the registration is re-newed, it can last for 25 years.
Bear in mind that a UK UDR or RDR only applies in the UK. If you want similar protection in, say, the EU or worldwide, there are other things you have to do, and of course that costs more. More details on the IPO link given above.
Trade marks can be used to protect the brand name of the item, or the company which makes it, but it doesn't really offer any protection to the design of the item itself. There are a very cases where the shape of a product (for instance a perfume bottle) has been registered as a trade mark, but by and large this is not a good route to go down just to protect the design.
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