This means that no one may copy, distribute, publicly display, etc. Protection under this chapter will be forfeited if the application for registration of the design is not made within 2 years of the date the design was first made public. If the customer decides to modify the design later, he has the right to do so and the designer has nothing to say about it. The designer or other owner of an original design of a useful item that makes the item attractive or distinctive in appearance to the purchasing or wearing public may ensure the protection provided by this chapter by complying with and subject to this chapter.
Errors in omitting a co-designer or appointing a suspected co-designer shall not affect the validity of the registration, or the actual ownership or protection of the design, unless it is demonstrated that the error occurred with misleading intent. And it doesn't matter if you designed it to be used in a functional item or if you designed it for another purpose and put it in a functional item. Provide evidence that the design in question is protected under this chapter and that the import of the articles would infringe design rights under this chapter. Protection provided for a design under this Chapter shall commence from the date of publication of the registration under Section 1313 (a) or the date the design is first made public as defined in Section 1310 (b).
The certificate shall indicate the name of the useful article, the date of submission of the application, the date of registration and the date on which the design was made public, if earlier than the date of submission of the application, and shall contain a reproduction of the drawing or other pictorial representation of the design. If you're not sure if a design idea is fair use or could be a violation, play it safe and avoid using that design. Designing a new product can revolutionize your industry, and the right logo design can help your company stand out from the crowd. A person who incorporates in that person's manufactured product an infringing item acquired from others in the normal course of business, or who, without knowledge of the protected design incorporated into an infringing article, manufactures or processes the infringing article on behalf of another person in the normal course of business, shall not be considered that you have infringed the rights in that design under this chapter, except under a condition contained in paragraph (o) of subsection (b).
A party to any action or proceeding under this Chapter claiming rights under this Chapter in a design shall have the burden of establishing the originality of the design provided that the opposing party introduces an earlier work that is identical to that design, or so similar as to show prima facie that such a design has been copied from that work. Illustrations, photographs and graphic designs that users reproduce and exploit for commercial purposes without the permission of the owner or designer are a clear violation of this law. Where the owner of a design has complied with the provisions of this section, protection under this chapter shall not be affected by the removal, destruction or obliteration by others of the design notice for an item. Applications for design patents must be filed within 1 year of the first offer for sale, public disclosure or public use of the design works.
In any action involving the protection of a design under this chapter, the court may, where appropriate, order the registration of a design under this chapter or the cancellation of such registration.
