Who owns design rights

Copyright ownership will also be relevant where the trade mark originates from a copyright work, such as a novel logo.

Copyright ownership can arise automatically or by means of transfer of rights. Further details are available on the UK government website. We use cookies to give you the best experience and to help improve our website Find out more about how we use cookies Choose whether to use cookies: No thanks That's fine.

Contents Intellectual property law. Copyright If a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, or a film, is created by an employee in the course of employment, the employer is the first owner of copyright subject to any contrary agreement. Patents At present, if an employee in the UK invents something in the course of their employment, the employer owns the rights to any patent that follows.

Trade marks The first owner of a trade mark will generally be the company that first uses the mark, subject to the mark not already being registered by someone else. You are in:. It is worth double-checking your sale documentation for this and making sure that your well-drafted terms and conditions apply to the sale.

If you have any queries about design right protection contact Jo Ford on joanna. Close menu. Design rights — what are they and who owns them? Design rights can also be bought, sold or licensed in a similar manner to copyright. Design rights exist independently of copyright, while copyright may protect documents detailing the design as well as any artistic or literary work incorporated within the finished product, the design right focuses more on the shape, configuration and construction of a product.

In the UK, unregistered design rights have been available since , and have been available since March throughout the European Community. Unregistered design rights are automatic and are treated in the similar manner as copyright.

For this reason they may be registered with the UK Copyright Service in the same manner as copyright work in order to establish proof of the date and content of the work in case of any later dispute or legal claims. So clearly a UKCS registration can be of value in such cases by ensuring their is independent evidence to support a claim.

Within the European Community, unregistered design rights lasts for 3 years from the point the design is first disclosed or made available to the public in some manner. In the UK rights the duration is 10 years from the end of the calendar year in which the design was first made into a marketable product. The original date the design was first fixed in a tangible form is also taken into account, and the duration should not exceed 15 years from the end of the calendar year in which the design was first recorded.

The UK 10 year duration is split into two 5 year periods: Exclusive rights are retained for the first 5 years, but during the last 5 years other parties are allowed to apply for licenses to the design for which the owner may claim royalties. An unregistered design is only infringed by copying. Independently created designs are not infringements. You have the right to take civil court action against infringement of a design right.