This chapter discusses unregistered design protection. The chapter examines the UK unregistered design right established by Part III of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and analyses the Community unregistered design which provides unregistered design protection across the EU. The chapter also considers in more detail the evolving and complex interaction between design protection and copyright in UK law, and the implications of Brexit for unregistered design protection, including the UK’s creation of two further UK domestic unregistered design rights, the continuing unregistered design and the supplementary unregistered design.
Chapter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter considers the way in which design right comes into being, whether by registration in the case of registered designs in the United Kingdom or automatically in the case of unregistered designs. It also discusses the conditions that must be satisfied for an unregistered design right to arise, as well as the procedures for applying for national registered design protection in the UK. The chapter also explains the ramifications of Brexit for design protection in the UK.
Chapter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter focuses on the unregistered Design Right as a means of protecting designs in the United Kingdom under Part III of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. It begins by considering the subsistence of the Design Right, with emphasis on the requirement that there be a ‘design’ and exclusions to design protection by the unregistered design right. The chapter then discusses issues of ownership, duration, and infringement as well as the defences that are available in cases of infringement of unregistered designs.
Chapter
This chapter discusses unregistered design protection which confers its own form of protection for a more limited period than is the case for other IP rights. The chapter examines the two main forms of unregistered design right: the UK unregistered design right established by Part III of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; and the Community unregistered design right. While Community unregistered design right is closely connected to the scheme of registered design law discussed in Chapter 8, UK unregistered design right is a fully independent and distinct form of unregistered protection for designs which is unique to the UK and poses its own particular challenges. The chapter also considers in more detail the evolving and complex interaction of design protection and copyright including recent UK legislative developments.
Chapter
This chapter discusses the law on designs. The underlying idea behind the law on designs is that it involves two distinct elements: an article or product and some added ingredient, a design feature, which enhances the appearance of the article. It is the design feature, the added matter, which receives legal protection, not the product itself. The chapter then deals with the five principal means available to protect the appearance of a product: UK registered design; UK unregistered design right; UK copyright; EU registered design; and EU unregistered design. Thus, a designer who wishes to acquire protection for the appearance of an article under UK and/or EU law has several options. To add to the complexity, various aspects of the design can be protected by registered designs, unregistered designs, and copyright. The outcome is that a designer could end up with several different layers of protection.
Chapter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter considers the way in which design right comes into being, whether by registration in the case of registered designs in the UK and in the European Union, or automatically in the case of unregistered Community designs. It also discusses the conditions that must be satisfied for an unregistered Community design right to arise, as well as the procedures for applying for national registered design protection in the UK and in the European Union.
Chapter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter focuses on unregistered design right as a means to protect designs in the UK under Part III of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. It begins by considering the subsistence of the UK unregistered design right, with emphasis on the requirement that there be a ‘design’ and exclusions to design protection by the unregistered design right. It then discusses issues of ownership, duration, and infringement as well as the defences available in cases of infringement of unregistered designs. The chapter concludes with a brief explanation of sui generis right involving semiconductor chips.
Chapter
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter discusses design protection in the UK and EU and the impact of the UK’s departure from the EU on this protection. In particular, it traces the history of industrial design protection before turning to examine in detail the registered designs and unregistered design right systems. The chapter also analyses the relationship between copyright and industrial designs, the tensions that arise from this interrelationship, and how this interface will be regulated in future under UK law.
Chapter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter focuses on ‘relative grounds’ for denying an application to register a trade mark as set out in section 5 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 and Article 8 of the European Union Trade Marks Regulation (EUTMR). It identifies ‘earlier trade marks’ and ‘earlier rights’ before turning to the tests which allow a prior mark to oppose the registration of a subsequent one. First, it reviews the so-called double identity ground, where an identical (later) mark is applied for, in the context of identical products. Second, it considers when likelihood of confusion may be established. Third, it surveys three situations referred to collectively as ‘dilution’, where the later mark may mentally evoke the earlier one in a way that is not confusing, yet still wrongful. It also explains the ‘advertising function’ of a trade mark, along with requirements relating to reputation and ‘due cause’. Finally, the chapter discusses relevant provisions governing unregistered trade marks, copyright, design right, and registered design right in the UK.
