ABSTRACT
Introduction 471
13.1 Design 471
13.2 Copyright and Design 475
13.3 UK Registered Design Right 480
13.4 The Old Law 483
13.5 The New Law 491
13.6 UK Unregistered Design Right 509
13.7 Community Designs 525
13.8 Registered Community Design 529
13.9 Unregistered Community Design Right 533
13.10 Design Rights and Competition Law 535
There is a marked difference between the inventive, functional products and processes which fall into the sphere of patents on the one hand, and creative, artistic copyright works on the other. However, many products which are neither inventive nor constitute copyright works are marketed with features that have an artistic, aesthetic or functional value. Considerable effort and investment is poured into the design of those features which provide a competitive edge in the marketplace. It is these features, either of the appearance or arrangement of a commercially exploited article, which are the subject of design rights.
