Design right is limited to shape excluding any surface decoration. There is no infringement of design right by copying only the surface decoration. ‘The design in which the plaintiff primarily claims design right is now pleaded as ‘the whole external shape and configuration of that part of the wall units which are used in its Cook’s Kitchen comprising the front, front corners, sides and cornice’ . . Save to the extent that it is affected by the exclusions in section 213(3), the design so pleaded plainly falls within the definition of design in section 213(2) in that it is a design of an aspect or aspects of the shape or configuration of the unit.’
Though the test was an objective one because the significance of a functional element in the design might only be apparent to those to whom the product was directed, he should consider the issue from the viewpoint of a purchaser of a fitted kitchen.
Judges:
Jonathan Parker J
Citations:
Times 13-Oct-1997, [1998] FSR 63
Statutes:
Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 213(2) 226 51(3)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – C and H Engineering v F Klucznik and Sons Ltd 1992
. .
Cited by:
Cited – A Fulton Company Limited v Totes Isotoner (UK) Limited CA 4-Nov-2003
The defendants appealed a finding that they had infringed the claimant’s unregistered design rights in collapsible umbrellas. The defendants said the law protected only the design as a whole, and that only part had been copied.
Held: Authority . .
Cited – Designers Guild Ltd v Russell Williams (Textiles) Ltd CA 26-Mar-1999
The claimant alleged copying of designs. The defendant appealed a finding that copying had taken place.
Held: The rejection of the dissection test in Ladbroke was as to the subsistence of copyright and not as to infringement. Evidence of those . .
Cited – Lambretta Clothing Company Limited v Teddy Smith (UK) Limited, Next Retail Plc CA 15-Jul-2004
The claimant settled upon a combination of colours to identify its goods. It then began an action against the defendants claiming unregistered design right and artistic copyright in the combination of colours.
Held: The mere combination of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Intellectual Property
Updated: 04 June 2022; Ref: scu.83412
