Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Table of statutes
- Table of cases
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Passing off
- 3 Registered trade marks
- 4 Exploitation of registered trade marks
- 5 Copyright: introduction
- 6 Subsistence of copyright
- 7 Authorship and first ownership, nature of the rights and duration
- 8 Exploitation, infringement and defences
- 9 Moral rights, performers’ rights, artist's resale rights, and other rights
- 10 Designs
- 11 Equitable doctrine of breach of confidence
- 12 Patents for inventions: introduction
- 13 Patents for inventions: validity
- 14 Patents for inventions: allocation of rights and ownership, the Register and dealings
- 15 Patents for inventions: exploitation, infringement and revocation
- 16 Plant breeder's rights
- 17 Remedies and miscellaneous issues
- Index
- References
10 - Designs
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Table of statutes
- Table of cases
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Passing off
- 3 Registered trade marks
- 4 Exploitation of registered trade marks
- 5 Copyright: introduction
- 6 Subsistence of copyright
- 7 Authorship and first ownership, nature of the rights and duration
- 8 Exploitation, infringement and defences
- 9 Moral rights, performers’ rights, artist's resale rights, and other rights
- 10 Designs
- 11 Equitable doctrine of breach of confidence
- 12 Patents for inventions: introduction
- 13 Patents for inventions: validity
- 14 Patents for inventions: allocation of rights and ownership, the Register and dealings
- 15 Patents for inventions: exploitation, infringement and revocation
- 16 Plant breeder's rights
- 17 Remedies and miscellaneous issues
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
From the chairs that we sit on, the pens that we write with and the clothes that we wear, design plays an important role in many aspects of our lives. Design impacts on objects in a range of ways, from the way that objects look through to the way that they function. Given this, it is not surprising that design is pivotal to the commercialisation and marketing of many different products. In this chapter, we look at the law that encourages and protects the skill, labour and effort that goes into the creation of new designs. Intellectual property protection for designs focuses on the visual appearance of commercial or industrial articles, rather than their function or the means of producing them. In Australia, the law in this area is set out in the Designs Act 2003 (Cth). This Act repealed the Designs Act 1906 (Cth), which governed Australian designs law for most of the twentieth century.
History
Design law occupies an awkward position in contemporary intellectual property law, where it is often regarded as the stepchild of patents and copyright. In part this has been reinforced by the fact that unlike these other categories of intellectual property law, there has never been a specific international treaty that deals with design protection. Despite this, design law is one of the oldest forms of intellectual property. Designs for certain textiles such as linens, cottons, calicoes and muslins were first protected in the United Kingdom by the 1787 and 1794 Calico Printers Acts. This was followed in 1839 and then in 1842 and 1843 by design legislation which not only laid the groundwork for modern design law but also for modern intellectual property law more generally.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Australian Intellectual Property Law , pp. 349 - 371Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011