The Government published its formal response to the Consultation on the Reform of the UK Designs Legal Framework to modernise the process for the designs registration system and improve enforcement. The IPO has confirmed that it hopes to take these recommendations forward at the earliest opportunity.
Of main importance to DMH Stallard clients and ACID members, many of whom sent case studies to the Hargreaves Review and designers in general will be criminal sanctions for repeated design infringement for which ACID and Nick Kounoupias have championed over an 18 year campaign. The Government has published a policy statement on the UK Designs Legal Framework and the measures contained within may form part of legislation, if they are successfully brought to Parliament.
Dids Macdonald, ACID's CEO said, "It's great that the Government has taken a first step to protect designers from those who copy their designs, but there is still a long way to go to ensure we receive the same protection as musicians or filmmakers. We will continue to make the case for what is a 33.5 billion pound industry, involving around 350,000 people and dominated mainly by micro and small businesses, the majority of whom rely on unregistered design rights protection, which has not been included in the current Government proposals."
Nick Kounoupias, ACID's Chief legal counsel and an IP lawyer for ACID accredited law firm DMH Stallard said, "It is just disappointing that a wonderful opportunity has been missed to correct a glaring omission in IP law. At present, in certain circumstances, it is a criminal offence for repeatedly copying a drawing or design document for a design but it is absurd (where that design is not a registered design) that once that 2 dimensional document is turned into a 3 dimensional product to create the design itself, that it not be a criminal offence to copy the design. This is why at ACID we have campaigned for many years for unregistered design right infringement to be a criminal offence and to mirror the analogous provisions for copyright."
There are many useful reforms which are detailed in the new Government recommendations but two other changes which will affect designers are a change in the default position in that the ownership of a commissioned design now remains with the designer not the commissioner so it is important that designers are alerted to this fact so that it can be changed by contract if desired. The other welcome introduction is a non binding opinions service. Whilst this is already available through ACID to its members as a free service, designers generally will be able to approach the IPO for this service. It is not known yet what the charges will be.
Notes to Editors
ACID is trade association for designers and manufacturers with a diverse membership ranging from individuals to multinationals and spanning many industry sectors. The organisation is committed to fighting design theft and lobbying Parliament for design law reform. Members have many free benefits including access to a specialist intellectual property legal hotline for initial free advice and, if relying on unregistered Community or UK design rights, have free and unlimited use of the ACID Design Data Bank to help protect their intellectual property (IP) Rights. ACID's key objectives are protection, deterrence and education, working towards a safer commercial trading framework enabling originators to fully exploit and maximise their IP rights.
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