The Unregistered Design and Copyright Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Unregistered Design and Copyright - Essay Example The migration of mature economies from manufacturing to services has heightened the need to protect intangible assets. Territorial coverage of intellectual property protection is a matter of contention. Individual countries such as the United Kingdom, and groups such as the European Union, are powerhouses of commercially valuable inventions. They are quick to adapt legislation to technological advancement, ensuring that the regulatory environment under their jurisdiction remains conducive for new products and ideas. There are a number of important markets where UK and EU products and services have business potential, and where piracy and the absence of effective protection are major issues. The UK has been diligent in adjusting national laws to EU requirements (Consultation on the Modernization of the UK System of Registration of Designs, 2003). The country ensures protection of essential national interests through the mechanism of the Regulatory Reform Order. However, legal literacy seems to be higher in Germany and France as these countries have more new design registrations. (Consultation on the Modernization of the UK System of Registration of Designs, 2003) The Unregistered Design system and Copyright law in the UK have a common objective to protect intellectual property. Both seek to encourage creativity and innovation. They discourage the pernicious practice that prevails in some countries outside the European Union and the United States, which allows entities to steal or to use ideas of others for their own benefits. The Copyright and Patents Act of 1988 in the United Kingdom actually covers unregistered design (Fawcett & Torremans, 1998). The objective is to provide a degree of protection to parties who do not follow the process of registering functional designs. Unregistered designs are protected against both primary and secondary infringement under this Act. The Community Design system is more flexible and covers all of the EU area; it is more advantageous than national registration (Consultation on the Modernization of the UK System of Registration of Designs, 2003). Both copyright and the unregistered design take immediate effects as soon as a figure or any expression of thought takes form. It is not necessary to take any specific steps or to follow a procedure for the protection of law to take effect. However, both the unregistered design right and copyrights are not applicable for ideas that remain in the minds of their creators. It is therefore important to be the first to establish use of a figure or shape of any work of creative expression. Protection does not create a monopoly or protect the commonplace, but it does prevent deliberate copying. Protection lasts for 15 years from the time of creation and first use, or for 10 years from after commercial use of the design or idea to make a product or to signify a service. Design rights and copyrights are treated as assets that can be bought, sold or licensed (Intellectual Property, 2006). The word copyright is used more often for films, music and similar work, whereas unregistered design is u sed for marks and shapes. Unregistered designs do not need any aesthetic value, as with copyright; it is adequate if a design is unique and different from