[Book review] Design law: Global Law and Practice

Recently, there has been a surge of notable developments in the domain of design law, including the publication of Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 and Directive (EU) 2024/2823 [IPKat on this point here] and the adoption of a Design Treaty in Riyadh. In line with all this flurry of activity, this Kat had the opportunity to review Dana Beldiman's book, “Design Law: Global Law and Practice”, published earlier this year.

D. Beldiman's book

Book Structure

This book is authored by an international group of academics and experienced practitioners. It is 697 pages in length. It is divided into 2 segments of rather unequal length.

The first segment is “Design laws around the world country by country”. As its title indicates, the purpose of this part is to review the major legal systems providing protection for designs. The 11 chapters of Part I correspond respectively to Australia, Canada, China, France, Italy, India, Japan, Nordic countries, USA, UK and the EU. 

Each chapter adheres to a similar structural format, with the exception of the chapters dedicated to Italy, the United Kingdom, and the EU. The remaining eight chapters are structured around a core section that reviews the legislative framework, procedural aspects, disputes, practical aspects, and the most significant recent case law in this field, as well as developments that comment on legislative reforms. In the chapter dedicated to Italy, developments include considerations on the enforcement of customs regulations and the utilisation of administrative data. 

The chapter entitled “A post-Brexit review of design protection in the UK” initially considers UK registered designs, before turning to UK unregistered designs. Additionally, it addresses the protection of designs through copyright, trade marks, and passing off. Procedural and enforcement issues are also explored.

The chapter dedicated to the EU focuses on the concept of Community (going forward: EU) design (i.e., novelty, prior art, individual character, consistency, grounds of invalidity). Moreover, it addresses potential conflicts between Community design and the various IP rights. It is worth noting that, despite its brevity, developments pertaining to EUIPO practice, the General Court and the CJEU are also included.

The second section of the book presents a comprehensive examination and critical assessment of a range international design law issues. These include jurisdiction, the status of selected treaties, a comparative analysis of prior art within the EU and beyond, the concept of aesthetic creative freedom, cumulative protection, AI-generated designs, and considerations for reframing design law to align with the goals of the circular economy. It is composed of three parts (Part 2 – 4).

Part II is entitled “International treaties and jurisdiction”. It deals respectively with “the functioning of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO)” (ch. 12), the draft design law treaty's forbidden words” (ch. 13) and Multistate infringement of design rights: jurisdictions and applicable law: the European approach” (ch. 14).

Part III entitled “Present-day and future trends in design law” comprises 4 chapters. Chapter 15, “Redesigning design protection: the problem of overlap”, discusses what US design patent law can teach about the problem of overlaps in the protection of design.

Chapter 16, “Prior art in EU design laws and its worldwide implications - taking advantage of flexibilities or being obstructed by ambiguities”, explores the definition and use of prior art in the EU design law with the aim of emphasizing the specifics that connect and intersect similar issues in non-EU law.

Chapter 17 “The concept of aesthetic creative freedom in design, copyright, and trade mark law – a European perspective” aims at answering the following question: Where do design and copyright law on the one hand and design and trade mark law on the other meet?

Chapter 18 “Fashion and design law” aims to understand contemporary issues in the fashion industry (i.e., AI, 3D and 4D printing, traditional knowledge, circular economy and the overlapping IP protections for fashion in EU law).

Part IV is titled “The way forward - a look at the future”. It is divided into two separate chapters. Chapter 19 “AI and European design law” focuses on how European design law could solve some of the problems posed by the increasing use of AI. In the end, chapter 20 “Designing for the European green deal - a supplementary protection regime for circular designs in EU” investigates ways in which design law plays a proactive role in moving towards a circular economy.

Thoughts

This book targets a broad audience interested in global design law, that include practitioners as well as scholars, right holders, aspiring designers, policymakers and students. Nevertheless, it is crucial to acknowledge that a more profound comprehension of this publication is only attainable by those who possess a fundamental grasp of design law already.

It should be noted that the various chapters and parts can be read independently without any loss of coherence. One of the book’s main qualities is that it provides an in-depth view of the legal systems in which designs are protected. This aspect therefore sets this manual apart from the rest. Of course, the book is not intended to be exhaustive in all aspects of the legal systems relating to designs.

The construction of the various sub-sections of Part I on the same template makes for easier reading. It also facilitates any comparisons the reader may wish to make between different systems. Another advantage of this book is its ability to tackle current and budding legal issues such as AI and the circular economy. This has the effect of anchoring the book in the present and the near future. Of course, once these aspects have been framed by law, this book will need to be revised.

Details

Edited by Dana Beldiman
Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN 978-1-80088-651-3
697 pages