To keep exclusive tile designs from being sold to others, you need a signed agreement that names the designs, the territory and the period of exclusivity, and that gives you ownership of the files you supplied. Without it, a Morbi factory is free to sell a design it made for you to the next buyer.
Practical steps also matter. Limit who sees your files, ask for a development sample under your control, and track how the factory handles leftover stock.
Why is custom tile design possible at all?
Modern plants use digital inkjet printing on the tile surface. A design is a digital file, so changing it does not require new physical rollers or moulds as older methods did. That is what makes a custom tile design manufacturer viable for smaller buyers, and why custom digital tile printing can be done for one collection at a time. Read custom tile designs from Morbi for how the process runs and what it needs from you.
The same ease of copying cuts the other way. A digital file can be reused in minutes, so the contract is your main protection.
What should the exclusivity clause say?
Make each point specific:
- Which designs are covered, identified by name, code and an image attached to the agreement.
- Where the exclusivity applies: a country, a region or worldwide.
- How long it lasts, and whether it continues only if you meet a minimum purchase over a set period.
- Who owns the artwork files and the colour profiles, and a promise to delete or return them if the relationship ends.
- A ban on selling the same or a substantially similar design to others within the agreed scope.
- What the factory does with unsold or rejected stock of your design.
What are the limits of protection?
A contract only binds the parties who sign it. If another factory copies your design from a competitor's photograph, you may need to rely on copyright or design rights in your own country. Rules differ, and registering a design or collection can strengthen your position. Take advice from an intellectual property lawyer where the range is valuable.
Exclusivity usually has a price. Factories ask for higher minimums or purchase commitments in return, because an exclusive design cannot be sold to anyone else if you stop ordering.
How do you reduce the risk in practice?
Sign a non-disclosure agreement before sharing files; our note on a sourcing agent NDA explains how that works when an agent is involved. Share only the files needed for each run. Keep a record of what you sent and when. Mark your cartons so that unauthorised stock is easy to spot, and visit or have the factory inspected to check that retained tiles are controlled.
What does exclusivity cost you?
Factories give exclusivity because they expect something back. That usually means a higher minimum per design, a purchase commitment over a set period, or a payment for development. If the factory cannot sell a design to anyone else, it needs to be sure you will keep ordering it. Weigh this honestly. Exclusivity on your five best-selling designs may be worth the commitment, while exclusivity on a whole catalogue may tie up capital in slow lines. Agree what happens if you stop ordering, so the design is either released or destroyed under a written term.
Next step
We find and audit manufacturers and supervise production and loading, and we work only for the buyer. Book a free sourcing review to talk through an exclusive collection.