Andrew Gowers, 06 December 2006, published the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, a Report that argues the importance of encouraging firms and individuals to innovate and invest in new ideas while ensuring that markets remain competitive and that future innovation is not impeded. This is obviously something that will benefit the digital age, but is this a step too far for fashion?
"In today's global economy, knowledge capital, more than physical capital, will drive the success of the UK economy". Says Andrew Gowers " Against this backdrop, IP rights, which protect the value of creative ideas, are more vital than ever."
The Review provides sound recommendations on how the IP regime should respond to the challenges that it faces, identifying a number of areas where reform is necessary from new powers of trading Standards against the infringement of copyright and tougher penalties against copyright to plans for the improvement of Government support and advice internationally - including in India and China, as well as the restructuring of the UK Patent Office.
It seems, however, that all is not well with the tightening of these laws within the fashion sector: "Despite claiming to ‘examine all elements of the intellectual property system’, the Review failed to address key issues faced by the fashion industry" Steve Sidkin who heads the Fashion Law Group at Fox Williams LLP solicitors points out "A key characteristic of the fashion industry is the extent to which trends transcend seasons. As a result many fashion companies do not go to the trouble of registering designs as they derive relatively little benefit form the process"
It is the "broad brush" approach that the review has taken that has ruffled many feathers in the fashion industry, as well as the ambiguous terms surrounding "fast tracking" of cases to avoid the huge legal costs that surround them:
"Only cases where the amount in dispute is under £15,000 are allocated to the fast-track." Continues Sidkin "Unsurprisingly, most intellectual property infringement cases exceed this value. The Review fails to specify the maximum threshold for allocating an intellectual property case to a fast-track presumably because it doesn’t want to guess the length of a piece of string!"
Another notable problem is that when a fashion company obtains judgment against the infringer, it may be the case that the infringer is unable to pay the damages awarded. "Unlike copyright and trade mark infringements, there are currently no criminal sanctions available for design right infringement" continues Sidkin "The Review has dodged addressing this issue. Instead there is merely a recommendation that the Department for Constitutional Affairs reviews the existing damages available for civil intellectual property cases"
What are your thoughts on this issue? Contact cmartin@datateam.co.uk
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