As to Industrial Designs
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Law Made Simple Intellectual Property Law Note 2 0f 7 Notes Industrial Design Layout ± Designs of Integrated Circuits Act 2000 Musbri Mohamed DIL; ADIL ( ITM ) MBL ( UKM ) 1 Society values the creative fruits of the human mind, as they enrich the fabric of life for all its members. Thus, a system of laws has been developed that confers rights on the creators of those fruits. These rights are collectively known as Intellectual Property Rights. 2 Way back in 1883, the first multilateral convention known as the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property was concluded. This Convention applies to industrial property in the widest sense, including inventions, marks, industrial designs, utility models, trade names, geographical indications and the repression of unfair competition. As to industrial designs: Industrial designs must be protected in each contracting state, and protection may not be forfeited on the ground that the articles incorporating the design are not manufactured in that state. 3 The Paris Convention, concluded in 1883, was completed by an Interpretative Protocol in Madrid in 1891, revised in Brussels in 1900, in Washington in 1911, in The Hague in 1925, in London in 1934, in Lisbon in 1958 and in Stockholm in 1967, and it was amended in 1979. 4 TRIPs, which was signed in Marrakesh in April 1994 as an annex to the Agreement establishing the WTO, is probably the most significant development in international IP law so far. The IP regime that was created in the 1880's based on the twin foundation of the Berne and Paris Conventions (which later came under the administration of the WIPO, has been subsumed by a regime based on the TRIPs Agreement under the supervision of the WTO. The perceived ineffectiveness of the Paris and Berne Conventions in the face of the significant growth of global trade in pirated and counterfeit products, together with the failure of WIPO to achieve significant amendments of the Paris Convention, in particular, led to the inclusion of IPRs within the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The TRIPs Agreement adopts portions of the Berne, Rome and Paris Conventions and the Washington Integrated Circuits Treaty in enun-ciating norms for IP laws. In addition, it provides for the administrative and judicial enforcement of IPRs and includes provisions for border control of the trade in infringing goods. 5 The gist of k-economy pursue by Malaysia is to go on making innovations and creating newer and newer products and services through research and development in all sectors of the economy. In order to encourage these innovations on a continuing basis, the innovative products and services ought to be given protection through IP laws. The MSC project visualized innovation through a collaborative effort between Malaysian and foreign companies and organizations. World- class companies will not innovate here unless they are assured of world class IP protection for their new products and services. 6 The Second Industrial Master Plan ('IMP2') was launched by the Federal Ministry of International Trade and Industry in November 1996 to provide strategic guidelines on industrial policies. One of the strategies outlined in IMP2 encourages manufacturers to embark on high value-added activities in Malaysia. The Worldwide Manufacturing Web flagship application of the MSC aims to provide a conducive environment for these high value-added manufacturing activities to be pursued using multimedia and information technology 7 What is an industrial design? An industrial design is the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. The design may consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an article, or of two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color. Industrial designs are applied to a wide variety of products of industry and handicraft: from technical and medical instruments to watches, jewelry, and other luxury items; from housewares and electrical appliances to vehicles and architectural structures; from textile designs to leisure goods. To be protected under most national laws, an industrial design must appeal to the eye. This means that an industrial design is primarily of an aesthetic nature, and does not protect any technical features of the article to which it is applied. 8 Why protect industrial designs? Industrial designs are what make an article attractive and appealing; hence, they add to the commercial value of a product and increase its marketability. When an industrial design is protected, the owner - the person or entity that has registered the design - is assured an exclusive right against unauthorized copying or imitation of the design by third parties. This helps to ensure a fair return on investment. An effective system of protection also benefits consumers and the public at large, by promoting fair competition and honest trade practices, encouraging creativity, and promoting more aesthetically attractive products. Protecting industrial designs helps economic development, by encouraging creativity in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, as well as in traditional arts and crafts. They contribute to the expansion of commercial activities and the export of national products. 9 It is a well-known fact that in the past several decades, intangibles are fast becoming the major assets with significant impact on the value and growth of many companies. In developed countries such as the US, intangible assets which encompass intellectual property, has well surpassed tangible asset to become the principal contributor to the market value of the many major companies listed in the stock markets. 10 In 1994 and 1995, Mansfield had carried out the oft- quoted surveys among various US, Japanese and German firms to find out the relationship between IPRs protection and investors' decision to inject foreign investment into a particular country. The surveys show that in the more sophisticated industries such as chemical industry, 46% of the foreign firms were concerned about IP protection for basic production and assembly facilities, whereas 71% is concerned about IP protection for component anufacture, 87% for complete products manufacture and 100% for R&D facilities. In other words, the higher the stage of production, the more concerns they have about IP protection. 11 How can industrial designs be protected? In most countries, an industrial design must be registered in order to be protected under industrial design law. As a general rule, to be registrable, the design must be "new" or "original". Different countries have varying definitions of such terms, as well as variations in the registration process itself. Generally, "new" means that no identical or very similar design is known to have existed before. Once a design is registered, a registration certificate is issued. Following that, the term of protection is generally five years, with the possibility of further periods of renewal up to, in most cases, 15 years. Depending on the particular national law and the kind of design, an industrial design may also be protected as a work of art under copyright law. In some countries, industrial design and copyright protection can exist concurrently. In other countries, they are mutually exclusive: once the owner chooses one kind of protection, he can no longer invoke the other. 12 How extensive is industrial design protection? Generally, industrial design protection is limited to the country in which protection is granted. Under the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs, a WIPO-administered treaty, a procedure for an international registration is offered. An applicant can file a single international deposit either with WIPO or the national office of a country which is party to the treaty. The design will then be protected in as many member countries of the treaty as the applicant wishes. 13 Universities and other institutions will continue to contribute to the training of the persons who will be the legislators, judges, administrative officials, legal practitioners and even teachers and researchers, of tomorrow. Research institutes will continue to contribute to the analysis of the intellectual property system and make suggestions for its improvement. 14 Four types of intellectual property courses are typically taught at the university and law school level. These are :- Survey Courses, Specialized Courses, Advanced Seminars and Practice Courses. 15 Survey Courses are basic, broadly focused courses, which are intended to give an overview of the various fields of intellectual property law, with enough specific facts to interest students who might decide on a speciality in intellectual property. Survey courses, which may be titled, for example, ³Introduction to Intellectual Property´ or ³Patent, Copyright and Trademark Law,´ are popular with business and Government students, who are looking for an economic perspective on the protection of the creations of individuals. The teaching of survey courses is especially suited to lecturers who are just starting to teach intellectual property ² they may learn, along with the students, the breadth and complexity of intellectual property protection. However, many experienced teachers who specialize in intellectual property enjoy teaching survey courses because they find that the interaction with students from a wide range of backgrounds continually broadens their perspective. 16 Specialized Courses focus in-depth on a single field of intellectual property. Specialized