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ARTICLE · 18 JUNE 2020

Can Copyright Protect Technical Products? Brompton Provides Some Answers

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Brompton Bicycle Ltd v Chedech/Get 2 Get (C‑833/18) (Brompton) is the latest in a string of recent decisions (most recently Cofemel (C‑683/17) and Edinburgh Woollen Mill v Response Clothing) regarding the overlap between copyright and ...

United KingdomIntellectual Property
John Coldham
John Coldham
Khemi Salhan
Khemi Salhan
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Brompton Bicycle Ltd v Chedech/Get 2 Get (C-833/18) (Brompton) is the latest in a string of recent decisions (most recently Cofemel (C-683/17) and Edinburgh Woollen Mill v Response Clothing) regarding the overlap between copyright and design law.

Each of these decisions states that the key requirements for a work to obtain copyright protection are that the work is original in the sense of being the author's own intellectual creation and that this creation is expressed in some form. Commentators have queried whether this opens the floodgates for designers to claim copyright in products, rather than being limited to only literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work, and whether design right protection will now become irrelevant.

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