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Registered Designs Rights in registered designs are protected as monopoly rights under the Registered Designs Act 1949 (‘RDA’). Only the owner can apply for registration of a design right. Registration gives protection for an initial period of five years which can be extended every five years, up to a maximum of 25 years, from the date of application. Generally, the author of the design will be the first owner of the design unless the designs are created in the course of employment or commissioned by a third party. “Design” has been defined in the RDA as the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features (like lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials) of the product or its ornamentation. The design must be ‘new’ and have ‘individual character’ and not fall within any of the statutory exclusions. Certain features like those which are solely dictated by the product’s technical function or those features which have to be made in their exact form and dimensions to allow the product to be connected to something else or which are contrary to public policy are excluded from protection by registration. Most commonly a design is registered by completing Form DF2A and submitting it to the Intellectual Property Office at Newport, South Wales. For a single application there is a registration fee of £60. The RDA does not include any express provisions about the remedies which may be available for infringement, but in practice the same remedies as for infringement of other intellectual property rights are available for infringement of registered design rights. These include an injunction, a claim for damages, an account of profits or an order for destruction. |