Protection for designs – the appearance and decoration of articles of all kinds, and material by the length – can be achieved in a number of different ways in Britain – by copyright, by design right or by design registration.
Copyright needs no registration in Britain and protects any artistic work, including the drawings for a design, from being copied for up to 70 years after the death of the creator.
Design Right, a copyright-like protection, also needs no registration in Britain or for Europe as a whole, and so is free. Design Right protects the shape and configuration of an article recorded in a “design document” from being copied by making the article itself. A design document may be a drawing, a photograph, a prototype or even computer data. Design Right does not extend to surface decoration or to features which must-fit or must-match with something else. In Britain, the protection lasts for 10 years from first marketing, but others can demand a licence after 5 years – unless there’s a corresponding design registration. Elsewhere in Europe it lasts for 3 years from first marketing.
To bring a copyright or Design Right Infringement case, actual copying must be proved. Independent creation, if true, would be a complete defence.
Design registration – what Americans call a “Design Patent” – is available to protect features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament of an article which appeal to and are judged by the eye in the finished article. Goods sold by the length such as textiles or lace can also be covered by design registrations. For infringement, it doesn’t matter whether there has been actual copying if an article has effectively much the same appearance or decoration. In Britain or in Europe, a design registration application can be validly filed up to one year after first disclosure.
A British or European Union design registration can last for up to 25 years, but it cannot protect features dependant on the function of the article or how it works. To protect these features, if novel and inventive, you need a patent.
M.J.P. Deans can advise on any aspect of design protection, and can file applications for design registration in Britain or for the European Union and International Design Registrations to cover those countries that belong to the Hague Convention. The firm also handles corresponding applications for design registration abroad through foreign associates.