FAQs
What is Protect Your Design (PYD)?
PYD is in short a huge databank which allows you to upload your design work securely.
Why should I upload my work if I am a designer?
As Solicitors we work closely with many retail and clothing companies as well as for individuals. PYD is aimed at anyone who is creative. It seeks to organise and manage your creative portfolio by logging and storing your work. Your work can then be shared with a company or sold to the company. You can advertise your designs for all to see.
Why should my upload the work if it is a company?
If you are a company it can be an administrative nightmare for you to maintain and plan the designs - this way you can keep control of your designers both internal and external.
Who owns the Designs?
If you created the designs you do. If the designs were commissioned by a Company then the Designer shall own the designs. If the designs were created during your employment, the employer will be the first owner.
What is a Design?
In law a Design provided it is original is given an automatic right under design law. This is known as a design right which gives you automatic protection for the internal or external shape or configuration of an original design. If you have a design right it allows you to stop anyone from copying the shape or the shape or configuration of the product, but does not give you protection for any of the 2-dimensional aspects, for example patterns or the paper designs. You can protect 2-dimensional designs using copyright or registered designs.
How long does it last for?
Design right lasts either 10 years after the first marketing of products or 15 years after creation of the design, whichever is earlier. You have 5 years to stop someone from copying the design. After this you must enter in to a licence to allow someone to make and sell the products.
I am in the fashion industry how should I protect my drawings using design right?
Many of your designs will be automatic. Unregistered design right was created by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA). Specifically to the industry Community unregistered design right was created by the Community Designs Regulation (6/2002/EC) (CDR). To be registered as a Community design, a design must be "new" and have "individual character" (Article 4(1), CDR).
A design is considered to be new if no identical design has been made available to the public before the filing or priority date of the design for which protection is sought (Article 5(1), CDR); designs are deemed to be identical if their features differ only in immaterial details (Article 5(2), CDR). A design has individual character if the overall impression it gives to the informed user differs from the impression given by a design which was made available to the public before the filing or priority date of the design for which protection is sought (Article 6, CDR). When assessing individual character, the degree of freedom of the designer in developing the design is to be taken into consideration (Article 6(2), CDR).
How do I use PYD?
If you are working for a company we shall provide you with a key code which is a unique identifier code. You will then pass this on to the designer who will then upload the designs for you to see. If he is assigning these designs to you then you shall have to accept these designs.