How to Elaborate and Interpret an Expert Report on the Design Area

Design has become a strategic element for companies, and every year, there is a growing number of companies and designers who request for industrial property protection (trademarks, patents, industrial designs, etc.). However, all these protection efforts do not prevent cases of unfair competition, and we find many lawsuits and trials focus on possible plagiarism between two designs. Since not all judges or lawyers are trained in this discipline, it is essential to consult a design expert. The expert opinion is summarized in a report that is part of the materials used in the judicial process. This work focuses on these reports centered on design issues, like brands, packaging, graphic design, or industrial products, and has two goals: to give some guidelines for the elaboration of these reports to design experts and to set some keys to interpret and correctly understand this design reports to all that person not expert in design. Methodology, guidelines, and conclusions that appear in this chapter are the result of the work developed by the authors in the last 10 years. Conclusions focus on a set of guidelines to elaborate and interpret correctly an expert report on the design area.