Design Right Protection
The holder of a registered design right has the exclusive right to authorize or prohibit others from using the design in any way, notably by producing, importing, selling or using products based on the design. However, rightholders may not prevent private and non-commercial use, use for research or use for teaching. There is also an exception for foreign-registered ships and aeroplanes, based on the principles of maritime sovereignty.
Protection under a registered design right last initially for one or more periods of five years, and may be renewed up to a maximum total of twenty-five years. In respect of a given product, they are exhausted when it is sold with the consent of the rightholder (the first-sale doctrine).
Protection by a registered design right does not affect any other intellectual property rights in the product, notably unregistered design rights, patents and trade marks. The question of copyright protection is left to the laws of the Member States, which apply varying criteria of originality to the copyright protection of "applied art"; the point, however, is that the existence of the registered design right does not stop the design also being eligible for copyright protection.
Read more about this topic: Directive On The Legal Protection Of Designs
Famous quotes containing the words design and/or protection:
“To nourish children and raise them against odds is in any time, any place, more valuable than to fix bolts in cars or design nuclear weapons.”
—Marilyn French (20th century)
“We cannot spare our children the influence of harmful values by turning off the television any more than we can keep them home forever or revamp the world before they get there. Merely keeping them in the dark is no protection and, in fact, can make them vulnerable and immature.”
—Polly Berrien Berends (20th century)