Registered Designs: The First Appeal to an Appointed Person in a Designs Case
Jane Lambert Martin Howe QC Ahmet Erol v Sumaira Javaid BL O/253/17 12 June 2017 The Registered Designs Act 1949 was passed the same year as the Patents Act 1949. S.85 (2) of the Patents Act 1949 established a Patents Appeal Tribunal ("PAT") which heard appeals from hearing officers. There was a corresponding provision under s.28 of the Registered Designs Act 1949 which established a Registered Designs Appeal Tribunal ("RDAT"). The PAT was abolished by the Patents Act 1977 but the RDAT trundled on until the Intellectual Property Act 2014 came into force (see Jane Lambert How the Intellectual Property Act 2014 changes British Registered Design Law 19 June 2014 JD Supra). S.10 (4) of that Act repealed s.28 of the Registered Designs Act 1949 and with it the RDAT. S.10 (2) of the 2014 Act inserted new sections 27A and 27B into the 1949 Act which gave those who wished to appeal against a decision of a hearing o...