Fonts are the design detail legal teams watch least — until a type designer claims damages for an entire printed packaging run. The classic FDI mistake is downloading a ‘free’ font online for packaging and advertising, when its licence covers only personal or trial use.
Two rights layers inside one font
- The typeface is a design work — an original typeface design is protected as applied art under Article 14 of the IP Law; copying, embedding and redistributing the design without a licence infringes.
- The font file is software — Article 22: a font file operates as a computer program protected as a literary work; a font licence is therefore a software licence, with separate packages for desktop, web, apps and print.
- Licences are tiered by use — licensing practice separates internal documents, web embedding, mass packaging print, and use in logos or trademarks into different scopes at different prices; buying one tier does not cover the others.
- ‘Free download’ is not ‘free for commerce’ — many fonts state free for personal, non-commercial use only; packaging sold on the market is purely commercial and falls outside that licence.
Governing fonts across identity and packaging
- Keep an approved font register: only fonts with clear commercial licences, storing invoices and licence terms with the font files.
- Require agencies and printers to produce licences for every font in design files at acceptance; replace any font of unclear origin before printing.
- For fonts used in logos and trademarks — long-term assets — buy the tier covering print, packaging and trademark registration, to avoid rebranding later.
A correct font licence always costs less than reprinting a packaging run or replacing a deployed identity. FDI companies should govern fonts in the same IP asset system as logos and images: an approved register, licence documents on file, and a checkpoint in the design acceptance workflow.
Frequently asked questions
Can we use a free-download font on packaging?
It may infringe: many fonts are free for personal use only; commercial packaging needs a commercial licence covering print use.
Which fonts may be used commercially?
Fonts whose licence expressly allows commercial use in the needed scope (print, packaging, web, logo) — check the licence terms and keep purchase records.
What does a font claim cost?
The owner can demand cessation, recall and damages under Articles 204-205 of the IP Law plus administrative fines; the biggest loss is usually the packaging reprint.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council
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