ABSTRACT
There would appear to be a considerable distance 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. Yet, many products are marketed with features that have an artistic, aesthetic or functional attraction. Considerable effort and investment is poured into the design of those features which provide a competitive edge in the market place. It is these features, either of the appearance or arrangement of a commercially exploited article, which are the subject of design rights. Design rights occupy the gap in protection which would otherwise fall between patents and copyright. The economic significance of products which fall into the intermediate design sphere is considerable, ranging from the functional aspects of engineered spare parts for cars and aircraft, through the aesthetically appealing designs conferred on jars of instant coffee, to the artistic qualities given to jewellery and other designer products. It might be tempting to consider that patent rights and copyright occupy the far ends of a scale moving from the entirely functional (for example, engineering products), through the aesthetic but functional (consider, for example, a tea service), to the entirely artistic (works of art); and that the design rights occupy only the middle of that scale. In fact, design rights neither exclude the entirely functional, nor the commercially artistic, but they do provide protection for the median ground which would otherwise fall between the two stools of patents and copyright.
