Products = tangible articles that occupy 3 dimensions in space and are human made (as
opposed to commodities and raw materials)
When a manufacturer develops a new product the exact physical form is to be determined
i.e. designed – initially in the form of drawing/model/prototype. All products are designed.
Good design = expensive – takes a lot of time, effort and skill
A business that has invested in product design will want to protect its investment by
enforcing IPR against competitors
Product design protection
Patents = technically innovative product design i.e. inventions
Copyright = products designed as artistic works
Registered design right (RDR) = products registered by appearance at IPO
Unregistered design right (UDR) = automatic right based on shape/configuration
REGISTERED DESIGNS
Intended to protect the appearance of consumer products e.g. stitching pattern on jeans
Protected by Registered Designs Act 1949 ( RDA 1949) – amended in 2002
o S.1 – s.1D RDA set out criteria on which application to register a design can be
accepted
DESIGN (s.1(2) RDA) = Appearance (what does the customer see?)
‘the appearance of the whole or part of a product resulting from the features of, in
particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials of the product and its
ornamentation’
o ‘whole or part of a product’ = arms or back of a chair
o ‘lines, shape, contours’ = lemon squeezer
o ‘ornamentation’ = pattern on a dinner service
o ‘pattern/texture’ = embossed wallpaper or woven textiles
Registration protects the design of the product NOT the product itself
o Single design may be applied to several different products e.g. floral pattern
, COMPLEX PRODUCT (s.1(3) RDA)
‘a product which is composed of at least 2 replaceable component parts permitting
disassembly and reassembly of the product’
Simple products e.g. teapot and lid unlikely to qualify but Items such as a car are
Design of overall complex product CAN be protected by registration
Design of the components protected by registration only to a limited extent
o S.1B(8)(a) – design of component only registrable if it remains visible during
normal use of the whole complex product by the end user e.g. steering wheel
Registration Requirements (s.1B RDA)
1. Be new
Design must: 2. Have individual character
3. not be excluded.
NOVELTY (s.1B(2) RDA)
‘a design is new if no identical design or no design whose features differ only in
immaterial details has been made available to the public before the relevant date’
o ‘made available to the public’ – wide – what is already out there?
S.1B(5) clarifies this
o ‘relevant date’ – date of application to register design (s.1B(7))
Therefore any public disclosure of the design made before the date of application for
registration will prevent the design from being new inc. exhibition or trade
o Unless it could not reasonably become known to persons carrying on business in
the UK and specialising in the sector concerned (s.1B(6)(a))
Before seeking to register a design, applicant must
o Ensure they have not made design available to public
o Check their design is not exactly the same/virtually identical to other designs
already available
Exceptions
Grace period (s.1B(6(c) + (d)
o Owner of design has 12 month period during which product can go onto market
before registering
o Can apply to register after this provided 12 mos haven’t expired
Enables under-resourced designers to test market first
Carries risk – not protected during grace period – will rely on UDR instead
If 3rd party independently discloses virtually identical design in 12 months,
design will not be new at date of application
Confidential disclosure (s.1B(6)(b)
o Disclosure of design under conditions of confidentiality DOES NOT destroy
design’s novelty
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