Acid/Briffa Seminar Explores Alternative Design Protection Through Copyright

At a recent ACID and Briffa event following the disappointing Trunki decision (PMS International Limited v Magmatic Limited [2016] UKSC 12), speakers explored IP enforcement in continental Europe and examined whether laws are more favourable to designers overseas.

Briffa's associates from Germany and Holland explained how copyright could enable a designer to get far further in continental courts then they would in an English court thus negating the reliance on registered or unregistered designs (and all of their associated limitations). Instead designers can:

1. Claim that their products are works of art and benefit from copyright protection for 70 years from the death of the creator; and