Comparative Global Design Law

"The treatise covers fundamental principles of design law, setting forth the basic principles and noting where similar concepts exist in the different countries but use different terms; global design law, starting with an overview of the relevant international treatises, then country-specific chapters for China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States, each of which follow the same outline to facilitate comparison between the chapters; and strategies and considerations for global design protection, focusing on prosecution/acquisition strategies for design rights on a global scale and discussing coordination of enforcement/litigation of design rights in multiple countries. Each country-specific chapter includes an example case study of the same article (a blender) to illustrate the differences between the drawing requirements, statistics about design filings (timing, number of filings), and litigation (number of cases, decision outcomes) among the countries covered"--

"The treatise covers fundamental principles of design law, setting forth the basic principles and noting where similar concepts exist in the different countries but use different terms; global design law, starting with an overview of the relevant international treatises, then country-specific chapters for China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States, each of which follow the same outline to facilitate comparison between the chapters; and strategies and considerations for global design protection, focusing on prosecution/acquisition strategies for design rights on a global scale and discussing coordination of enforcement/litigation of design rights in multiple countries. Each country-specific chapter includes an example case study of the same article (a blender) to illustrate the differences between the drawing requirements, statistics about design filings (timing, number of filings), and litigation (number of cases, decision outcomes) among the countries covered"--

For the first time, this book provides an up-to-date history of product design and product design law covering 17 countries — Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), Russia, the United States, Brazil and Australia — selected for their innovative or influential approach to design or design protection. Each country is the subject of two chapters — one on the history of design and the other on the history of design law — authored by experts in design and intellectual property (IP) law. This unique interdisciplinary approach explains why and how various national design protection systems (that can include design, copyright, trade mark, competition and civil laws) developed, making it an ideal book for students, researchers and lawyers. The book also serves as an international survey of different national policy and legal responses to historical developments and specific design and legal issues allowing readers to consider their advantages and disadvantages — and so is also recommended for policy and law makers, as well as organizations that administer IP rights. Topics include the subject matter of design protection; procedural and substantive requirements; design registration; infringement; and the overlap of design rights and other IP rights. The chapters on design history provide further context to the historical development of these legal concepts by considering major design movements, key designers and iconic designs and the current state of design. The chapters highlight the connected and often complementary relationship between the two histories, not only for each country, but at the regional and international level, often as a result of government policies, trade, colonialism, immigration and globalisation. Design and design practice continue to become more global and evolve with developments in technology. At the same time, design laws are not internationally harmonized and continue to develop at the national level, with a number of significant changes occurring in recent years. This timely book shows how the lessons of the past continue to inform the future direction of design and the legal systems developed to protect it.

This book is a revised and updated edition of a major work first published in 2001 under the auspices of the Intellectual Property Committee of the International Bar Association. As a comparative cross-jurisdictional analysis of the practice, theory, scope, and types of design protection, it will continue to be of immeasurable value to lawyers and others involved in industrial design. Industrial designs are particularly interesting because the laws in many countries attempt in different ways to find a balance between protection for the artistic and freedom to use the purely functional, and between the proprietary rights of the creator and the public domain rights of the competitor. The second edition is comprised of more than twenty country reports, each written by one or more prominent intellectual property lawyer(s) in the country covered. To facilitate cross-jurisdictional comparison, each report is structured according to the following sequence of topics: • new developments in each jurisdiction; • conventions and legislation; • definition of what constitutes a protectable design; • originality /novelty; • duration of protection; • infringement; • defences to infringement; • procedures for filing application for registration; and • expunging, cancelling, or varying registration. Prominent new developments covered in the second edition include the continuing impact of the European Community Design Directive, the adoption of the Hague Convention with corresponding major changes to US and Canadian design law and practice, the new German Design Law, and China's new Guidelines for examination. Each jurisdiction's currently applicable legislation, regulation, and case law is summarized and analysed.

Max Planck Series on Asian Intellectual Property Law Volume 18 Indisputably, Japan is today a major hub of product design, and designs made in Japan play an influential role in the world across a wide range of industries. This is the first and only book in English to provide a detailed overview and discussion of product design protection and practice under Japanese law. In addition to expert analysis of the application of design law by Japanese courts and the Japan Patent Office (including the far-reaching 2020 amendments), the book features seven contributions by Japanese product designers from specific industries who describe the product design process in their industry and its legal ramifications worldwide. With in-depth description and analysis and many detailed explanatory figures and tables, the contributors cover such issues and topics as the following: ownership of design rights; requirements for design protection; application process for design registration; examination procedure; appeals and invalidity trials; design infringement and scope of protection; overlap of design and other intellectual property rights; design protection and competition law; international jurisdiction and governing law; and design rights and commercial transactions. Industry-specific chapters cover the application of design law in furniture, home appliances, cell phones, cars, advertising, product packaging, web design, and typeface design. The book concludes with a chapter highlighting differences in design law in Japan and the European Union. Given that Japanese design experts often note a lack of understanding of Japanese design law and practice by foreign companies, this book will appeal to law firm practitioners and in-house counsel involved in global design right portfolio management and design protection in Japan. It will also appeal to intellectual property scholars and product designers with an interest in Japanese design practice and law.

This book provides a comprehensive assessment of the current legal landscape of global design law. It includes practice-based and analytical accounts of national design laws from several representative jurisdictions and delves into the practical and theoretical dimensions of some of the most urgent procedural issues facing this legal field. Key Features: Insights from experienced practitioners and subject matter experts Examination of key jurisdictional issues in Design Law, including practice suggestions Comparative legal analysis of the design laws in countries spanning Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America Exposition of key concepts in Design Law, including aesthetic creative freedom, cumulative protection and spare parts Coverage of complex, developing issues such as the protection of AI-generated works and the reframing of design law to align with the goals of the circular economy Highly practical and authoritative, Design Law is indispensable for legal professionals practising in intellectual property law and international commercial law. Written in an accessible style, this book is also of interest to legal scholars and law students interested in design, intellectual property, and fashion law.

The EU’s ‘Design Approach’ represented a unique attempt to protect industrial design and designers in and on their own terms. It has now been in place for more than a decade and this book, including contributions from leading international scholars, takes stock and attempts to find out what became of the Design Approach: Is it still observed; what has it achieved; how does it interact with other areas of the law; what became of the spare parts problem and how did the world respond to it?

Protection of industrial and other designs has developed as a distinct and important area of intellectual property law. This book, while providing a solid foundation on the law regarding the protection and enforcement of design rights, focuses on the ever-present, and always contentious, issue of functionality in the context of design rights. While there is considerable harmonization on the fundamental principle that design rights regard aesthetic appearance and not underlying technical function, courts and legislatures the world over have long struggled with determining whether to permit, and how to interpret the scope of, designs rights directed at products whose appearancemay, partially or completely, be the result of functional consideration. This detailed country-by-country analysis provides clarity, insight, and guidance on the legal issues and practical implications of functionality in key jurisdictions worldwide. This book was developed within the framework of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), a non-affiliated, non-profit organization dedicated to improving and promoting the protection of intellectual property at both national and international levels. The authors of the country chapters have been carefully selected based on their extensive experience and in-depth knowledge about design protection in their respective jurisdictions. Each chapter considers such issues and topics as the following: • availability of protection – granting authority, statutory requirements, drawing requirements, and disclaimers; • tests or approaches applied to determine whether a design right is ineligiblefor protection based on functionality grounds, including related policy considerations; • strategies employed to mount, and fend off, challenges to design rights based on functionality; • determination of a design right’s scope of protection, including the impact of any visual elements of the overall design having appearances that are non-novel and/or functional; • tests or approaches applied to determine whether a visual element of a design right is excluded from the overall scope of protection based on functionality grounds, including related policy considerations; • examples of how visual elements of a design right whose appearance is driven by function are treated in infringement and validity contexts. Each chapter includes case law examples, hypothetical fact patterns, and graphic images of designs to bring issues to life. An introductory chapter covers the basic tenets of design rights, terminology, and discussion of design rights in relation to other areas of intellectual property. As a comparative law study and a collection of contributions from around the world on an important and controversial field, this book proves to be of tremendous practical interest for the industry involved and for the public. Applicants for design protection, parties involved in or contemplating enforcement proceedings, and interested legal practitioners will benefit greatly from its thorough comparative analysis and guidance. It is also exceptionally valuable as a matchless and thorough resource for academics and researchers interested in the international harmonization of intellectual property law.