It needs to protect the product, communicate the brand and, ideally, persuade someone to pick it up over the thing sitting next to it.
The less sexy side of packaging design is that it also needs to stay on the right side of the law.
Yeah, we know … it’s not as exciting as choosing colours, typography or figuring out whether your bottle would look better with a tiny embossed logo. But packaging law can influence almost every part of a design, from the information printed on a label to the materials used to manufacture it.
Get it wrong and the consequences can be far more expensive than another round of design amends. Non-compliance can result in fines, recalls, products being removed from sale, wasted stock, redesign costs and reputational damage.
There is another side to the legal equation, too. If you've invested in creating distinctive packaging design, you'll probably want to stop competitors from getting suspiciously close to it.
So, when it comes to legal packaging design, there are really two questions to ask: is our packaging compliant, and is our design protected?
There isn't one universal set of design regulations that applies to every packet, bottle, box and tub.
The rules depend on what you're selling, where you're selling it and what the packaging is made from. Food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, for example, can carry much more specific requirements than less heavily regulated products. Selling the same product internationally adds another layer because packaging that complies with UK requirements shouldn't automatically be assumed to comply in the EU, US or elsewhere.
This is why compliance needs to enter the conversation early in the brand design process rather than appearing as a slightly panicked checklist immediately before the design goes to print.
Product labelling is one of the most obvious intersections between packaging design and the law.
Information must be accurate, clear and not misleading, while mandatory information varies between products and markets. Food packaging, for example, may need to accommodate ingredients, allergen information, nutritional information, date markings, business details and country-of-origin information.
Global packaging may require different languages, warnings, symbols or formats as well.
These requirements aren't separate from brand design either. They affect how much space is available, the hierarchy of information and sometimes the fundamental structure of the packaging. Discovering late in the process that another block of mandatory copy has to fit onto a nice minimalist label tends to make that label considerably less minimal.
Consumer protection rules matter just as much as the small print.
The words, imagery, colours, shape and overall presentation of packaging shouldn't create a false impression about what somebody is buying. That includes exaggerating a product's quantity, benefits, characteristics or quality.
Even the physical construction of packaging matters. The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), for example, brings increased attention to packaging minimisation and unnecessary empty space, including features such as false bottoms and double walls.
In other words, making a relatively small product look enormous isn't always the right packaging design decision. Depending on the circumstances, it can become a regulatory problem.
Legal compliance doesn't stop at the graphics printed on the outside.
Packaging needs to be safe and suitable for whatever it contains. Food-contact materials are an obvious example: the packaging shouldn't transfer harmful substances into the product, and businesses may need testing, certification or technical evidence to demonstrate this compliance.
Restrictions can also apply to chemicals throughout the packaging specification. EU rules cover substances including lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium, while food-contact packaging is subject to additional chemical requirements.
That means looking beyond whether the main container is made from materials such as glass, paper or plastic. Inks, coatings, adhesives, closures and other components can all matter too.
For packaging designers and brands, the lesson is simple: know what the complete packaging is actually made from before approving it.
"Sustainable", "eco-friendly" and "recyclable" can sound great on the front of a pack. They're considerably less useful when nobody can explain what they actually mean.
Environmental claims should be clear, specific and supported by actual evidence. No greenwashing. The wording should reflect what happens to the packaging in the real world rather than what you think people want to hear.
This becomes seriously important as packaging legislation tightens.
In the UK, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a system designed to make businesses responsible for the waste created by the packaging they put on the market. Qualifying businesses must record and report their packaging data, while the amount and recyclability of that packaging can affect the fees they pay.
The EU's PPWR takes things a step further. From 2030, packaging will need to meet stricter recycling rules, with packs graded on how recyclable they are. Certain types of plastic packaging will also need to contain a minimum amount of recycled material.
And "compostable" isn't necessarily an easy way around these rules. In the EU, only certain types of packaging are required to be compostable, while most still need to be designed for recycling. In the UK, compostable packaging can also cost businesses more under EPR if it isn't classed as recyclable.
Both environmental policy and packaging law are pushing businesses towards using less material.
The EU PPWR introduces requirements concerning packaging weight, volume and empty space, with particular implications for grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging. Certain single-use plastic formats will also face restrictions from 2030.
Reuse and refill are becoming more significant too, particularly in the EU, where some sectors will face binding reuse requirements. Calling something "reusable" isn't enough though: the packaging has to be genuinely designed to survive repeated use.
The result is an interesting design challenge. Brands need to reduce unnecessary packaging without compromising protection, usability or shelf presence.
Good packaging design often means less is more.
Image source: euwid-recycling.com
Compliance keeps packaging on shelves. Intellectual property can help stop someone else from putting something remarkably similar next to it.
Distinctive packaging can become a valuable brand asset. Shape, contours, graphics, textures, colours and the overall appearance of the packaging design may potentially be protected through different forms of IP.
The important bit is considering protection before launch, rather than after a competitor has already produced its own suspiciously familiar version out there.
UK registered design rights can protect the appearance of both 2D and 3D packaging.
Generally, a design must be new and possess individual character. Features determined purely by technical function aren't normally protected in the same way.
Registering a design gives you stronger protection if another brand creates something too similar, as you don't necessarily have to prove they deliberately copied you. In the UK, that protection can last for up to 25 years, as long as it's renewed when required.
It's also important to think carefully about what you register, because your protection is based on the images or drawings you submit. For 3D packaging, that might mean showing the design from several angles or registering different versions of it. Even something as simple as submitting the design in colour or black and white can affect what your registration protects.
Timing matters too. The UK provides a 12-month grace period for certain disclosures made by the brand designer, but the position isn't identical in every country. If international protection is important, filing before publicly revealing a new design can be the safer brand strategy.
You don’t have to register everything to have some protection.
Certain packaging designs can be covered automatically by unregistered design rights. The catch is that they can be harder to enforce, as you may need to show that someone actually copied your design.
Copyright can also automatically protect original creative work on your packaging, such as illustrations, graphics and photography.
And these rights don’t have to work alone. The same packaging could be protected in different ways. For example, registered design rights might protect its distinctive shape, while copyright protects the artwork on the label.
Sometimes.
Brand names and logos are obvious candidates for trade mark protection, but distinctive packaging features and even shapes can potentially function as trade marks too.
The hurdle is higher. A packaging shape needs to be sufficiently distinctive and capable of identifying the commercial origin of the product rather than simply being an ordinary or functional container.
Where that threshold is met, trade marks offer an attractive advantage: unlike registered designs, they can potentially be renewed indefinitely.
Packaging IP isn't theoretical. It can have genuine commercial value.
The Marks & Spencer v Aldi dispute concerning M&S's light-up gin bottle is a useful example. M&S relied on registered designs in challenging Aldi's competing bottle, demonstrating why protecting the authenticity of your packaging before problems arise can be considerably easier than trying to establish ownership afterwards.
Depending on the circumstances and the rights involved, successful IP enforcement can lead to remedies including injunctions, damages or an account of profits.
Of course, the same principle works in reverse.
Before creating a highly distinctive packaging design, businesses should consider existing registered designs, trade marks, copyright and other relevant rights. Being inspired by the category is one thing. Producing something that creates a legally problematic resemblance to a competitor is quite the other.
Image source: independent.com
The easiest way to deal with many packaging-related legal problems is to catch them before you've ordered 100,000 units.
Legal considerations should therefore be part of packaging development from the first concept onwards.
That starts with identifying the markets where the product will be sold. UK, EU and US requirements can differ substantially, and Brexit has made it particularly important for businesses selling in both Great Britain and the EU to treat the two regulatory environments separately.
Northern Ireland adds another layer of complexity because of the interaction between EU requirements under the Windsor Framework and relevant UK rules.
Depending on the product, businesses may also need to establish whether CE, UKCA, UKNI or other conformity markings are required.
A sensible packaging design process should establish the key legal constraints before visual development goes too far.
That means understanding mandatory label content, material restrictions, recycling requirements, relevant environmental obligations and the documentation that will ultimately be required.
Under the EU PPWR, for example, manufacturers placing packaging on the EU market can face conformity-assessment and technical-documentation requirements, including an EU Declaration of Conformity. Outsourcing testing doesn't automatically outsource the manufacturer's legal responsibility.
Supplier information matters here. Accurate specifications for materials, weights, components, inks, adhesives and coatings make compliance easier to assess and can also support reporting obligations such as EPR.
Some packaging will require specialist testing or packaging certification covering areas such as food-contact safety, chemical composition, recycled content, recyclability or environmental claims.
Do this before mass production.
It sounds painfully obvious, but discovering a compliance problem when you're looking at a warehouse full of finished packaging is substantially more expensive than discovering it while you're looking at a prototype.
Compliance checks and IP protection should happen simultaneously with one another.
If a packaging concept is genuinely unique and distinctive, consider whether registered design protection is right for you before publishing it, presenting it widely or launching it into international markets. Keep records showing how the design developed and make sure agreements with brand designers, photographers, illustrators and other creative partners clearly establish ownership and usage rights.
Prior-right searches can also identify potential conflicts before too much time and money is wasted into a singular concept.
This is one reason why working with an experienced packaging design agency is a good idea for brands. We know what we’re doing. At Noramble, we think about packaging as a complete system rather than simply making the packaging design look nice. Regulatory requirements, production realities, sustainability ambitions and brand distinctiveness all influence the eventual packaging design.
We know how much great packaging can change the game for a brand. That’s why we don’t see regulations as a reason to water down a good idea – the best packaging gets the legal stuff right without losing what makes it fire 🔥.
The legal side of packaging design is becoming harder to separate from the creative side.
Labelling affects layouts. Sustainability legislation affects materials. Packaging minimisation affects structures. EPR can affect costs. And intellectual property determines how effectively a brand can protect the distinctive design it has invested in creating.
The best approach isn't to finish working on a beautiful packaging design and then ask whether it's legal. It's to make compliance, production and IP considerations part of the branding brief from day one.
That doesn't mean brand designers need to become regulatory lawyers. It means brands, designers, manufacturers and legal or compliance specialists need to work together early enough that legal requirements inform the solution rather than dismantle it at the end.
Because the best packaging isn’t simply there to look good, it needs to belong there.
If you're wondering whether your current packaging is doing enough for your brand (legally sensible considerations included) Noramble can help to identify where your identity and packaging could work harder. No courtroom drama required.
A quick note: This article is a general guide, not legal advice. Packaging rules vary depending on what you’re selling and where you’re selling it, so always check the requirements that apply to your product and market.
