Unregistered Design Rights: What I wrote in 1997
Most people know that design right is a relatively new intellectual property right which was created by Part III of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ( "CDPA" ) which came into force on the 1 August 1989. The right protects original designs (that is to say, the design of any aspect of the shape or configuration (whether internal or external) of the whole or part of an article. It is to be distinguished from artistic copyright that protects artistic works from reproduction under Part I of the CDPA and rights in new designs having individual character protected by registration under the Registered Designs Act 1949 as amended. Legislative History In its 1986 white paper, “ Intellectual Property and Innovation ” (Cm 9712), the government of the day recognized that the protection of functional articles under the Copyright Act 1956 was highly controversial. It noted the objections that: the term of protection, which was then 50 years plus the life of the author rathe...