Industrial Design Rights

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 creation and the freedom to use the purely functional, and between the proprietary rights of the creator and the public domain rights of the competitor. The third edition is comprised of twenty-five 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 third edition include new chapters from South Korea, Russia and Turkey as well as continuing coverage of the impact of the European Community Design Directive, the adoption of the Hague Agreement with corresponding major changes to US and Canadian design law and practice, the newly revised Japanese Design Law, and China’s revised Guidelines for Examination. Each jurisdiction’s currently applicable legislation, regulation, and case law is summarized and analysed.

This document looks at what industrial designs are, what makes them registerable, the advantages of registration, and how to go about it. It also includes a fee schedule and copies of industrial design application forms and certificates.

The 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act attempted to clarify the legal issues concerning the amount of protection that should be afforded to industrial design.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Under current intellectual property laws, industrial designs (ID) may potentially be protected through design patents, trade dress, and copyright. In addition, the Vessel Hull Design Protection Actestablished a specialized, or sui generis, intellectual property right for the protection of boat hull designs. Some experts argue that the present intellectual property regime does not adequately protect ID. Contents of this report: (1) ID and Intellectual Property: Copyright; Trade Dress; Design Patents; Vessel Hull Design Protection; (2) Current Issues in ID Protection: Intellectual Property Rights in Fashion Designs; U.S. Adherence to the Hague Convention; Auto Spare Parts; Judicial Developments Concerning ID Patents; (3) Issues in Innovation and Competition.

The copyright/design interface for a wider, non-specialist audience, taking as a starting point the notion of industrial design derived from design studies, on the border between art and science.

This area of the law in Canada is governed by two statutes, the Copyright Act RSC 1985 and the Industrial Design Act RSC 1985. Accordingly, this reference source is arranged in two parts, the first dealing with copyright and the second, industrial design. Each part provides authoritative coverage of such issues as registration, licensing and assignment procedures, as well as what constitutes infringement, and each is equipped with its own index, table of cases and precedents. The primary legislation is reproduced in full, along with relevant regulations and fees, the regular updating ensuring the currency and reliability of both parts.