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1 An Introduction to Design and the Legal Protection for Designs

Mitchell Adams


  1. Oxford Dictionary (3rd edition, 2010). The use of the terms ‘art’ and ‘design’ can overlap, resulting in a blurring boundary between the two. The term ‘applied art’ can describe the design or decoration of functional objects so as to make them aesthetically pleasing, which has applications in the fields of industrial design, graphic design and fashion design. See Oxford Dictionary of Art (3rd edition, 2004) ‘applied art’.
  2. Macquarie Dictionary (7th edition, 2017) ‘design’ (def 1)
  3. Ibid (def 2).
  4. Ibid (def 3).
  5. See Michael Lewrick, Patrick Link and Larry Leifer, The Design Thinking Playbook (Wiley, 2018).
  6. Charlotte Fiell and Peter Fiell, The Story of Design (Goodman Fiell, 2018) 9.
  7. Ibid.
  8. William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design (Rockport Publishers, 2nd ed, 2010) 12 ('Universal Principles').
  9. A D Russell-Clarke, Copyright in Industrial Designs (Sweet & Maxwell 4th ed, 1968) 1.
  10. IP Australia, 'Defining Design' (Research Report, IP Australia, 2020) ('Defining Design').
  11. Ibid.
  12. Ibid.
  13. Ibid 11.
  14. The chair sold at auction for a record-breaking £2,434,500 (equivalent to AU$4.7 million). See ‘By The Numbers: Marc Newson’s Lockheed Lounge Chair’, Sotheby’s Institute of Art (Webpage, 20 January 2016) <https://www.sothebysinstitute.com/news-and-events/news/marc-newson-lockheed-lounge-chair/>
  15. See more generally, Bella Martin and Bruce Hanington, Universal Methods of Design (Rockport Publishers, 2012).
  16. Ibid 6.
  17. Universal Principles (no 8) 12.
  18. Ibid.
  19. Design Act 2003 (Cth) s 5 (definition of ‘design’) ('2003 Act').
  20. Ibid s 7.
  21. World Intellectual Property, 'The Changing Face of Innovation' (Research Report No 944E, IP Australia, 2011) 2.
  22. See for example C Coville et al., ‘5 Everyday Things You Won’t Believe Are Copyrighted’, Cracked (Article, 16 October 2012) <http://www.cracked.com/article_20066_5-everyday-things-you-wont-believe-are-copyrighted.html>
  23. Estelle Derclaye and Matthias Leistner, Intellectual Property Overlaps: A European Perspective (Hart, 2011) 1.
  24. Ibid.
  25. Ibid.
  26. An artistic view of design aligns with concepts and perceptions of copyright protection in artistic works and works of artistic craftsmanship. See Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ss 10 (definition of ‘artistic work’), 77.
  27. Mark Davidson, Ann Monotti and Leanne Wiseman, Australian Intellectual Property Law (Cambridge University Press, 2nd ed, 2012) 349 and Sam Ricketson, Thomson Reuters, Law of Intellectual Property: Copyright, Design and Confidential Information (online at 1 January 2023) [19.30].
  28. Defining Design (no 10) 8.
  29. Productivity Commission, Intellectual Property Arrangements (Inquiry Report No 78, 23 September 2016) 339 ('Intellectual Property Arrangements').
  30. The Designs Act 2003 (Cth) replaced the Designs Act 1906 (Cth) and came into force on 17 June 2004. The Commonwealth’s legislative power in relation to intellectual property stems primarily from s 51(xviii) of the Constitution, permitting it to make laws with respect to ‘copyrights, patents of inventions and designs, and trade marks’.
  31. 2003 Act (no 19) s 5 (definition of ‘design’).
  32. Ibid s 7.
  33. Ibid s 6.
  34. Ibid s 7.
  35. A drawing of a design, like that of the appearance of a smartphone may be protected as an original artistic work under copyright. However, the design becomes the subject of protection under the Designs Act when it has been applied to the product for manufacture. See Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ss 74-77.
  36. See Re Wolanski’s Registered Design (1953) 88 CLR 278, 279 and 2003 Act (no 19) s 5 (definition of ‘design’).
  37. Australian Law Reform Commission, Designs (Report No 74, 1995) 2.4 ('Designs Report').
  38. 2003 Act (no 19) ss 13-14.
  39. IP Australia, ‘What a Design Right Protects’, Designs Examiners’ Manual of Practice and Procedure (Web Page, 7 April 2022) <https://manuals.ipaustralia.gov.au/design/what-a-design-right-protects>.
  40. 2003 Act (no 19) s 10.
  41. Ibid s 15.
  42. Intellectual Property Arrangements (no 29) 342, Advisory Council on Intellectual Property, Review of the Designs System (Final Report, March 2015), 19 ('Review of the Designs System').
  43. Sam Ricketson, ‘Towards a Rational Basis for the Protection of Industrial Design in Australia’ (1994) 5 Australian Intellectual Property Journal 193, 194 ('Protection of Industrial Design in Australia').
  44. Review of the Designs System (no 42). Also see Jani McCutcheon, ‘Too Many Stitches in Time? The Polo Lauren Case, Non-infringing Accessories and the Copyright/Design Overlap Defence’ (2009) 20 Australian Intellectual Property Journal 39, 52.
  45. Intellectual Property Arrangements (no 29) 3.
  46. Ibid iv.
  47. See William Landes and Richard Posner, ‘Trademark Law: An Economic Perspective’ (1987) 30 Journal of Law and Economics 265-309.
  48. See Industrial Property Advisory Committee, Patents, Innovation and Competition in Australia (Report, 1984) 11-18.
  49. However, there can be some competing considerations when looking at the need for protection within copyright. See Stephen Breyer, ‘The Uneasy Case for Copyright: A Study of Copyright in Books, Photocopies and Computer Programs’ (1970) 84 Harvard Law Review 281.
  50. Explanatory Memorandum, Designs Bill 2002 (Cth) 2.
  51. Ibid
  52. See William Fisher, ‘Theories of Intellectual Property’ in Stephen Munzer (ed), New Essays In the Legal and Political Theory of Property (Cambridge University Press, 2001) 168, 169-170 ('Legal and Political Theory of Property').
  53. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GA Res 217A (III), UN GAOR, UN Doc A/810 (10 December 1948).
  54. Legal and Political Theory of Property (no 52) 168-9.
  55. Commonwealth of Australia, Australian Government Response to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Intellectual Property Arrangements (Response, 25 August 2017) 2.1.
  56. Defining Design (no 10) 7.
  57. Ibid.
  58. Ibid.
  59. Designs Report (no 37) 2.13.
  60. Defining Design (no 10) 8.
  61. See Gil Appel, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller, O’n the monetary impact of fashion design piracy’ (2018) 35(4) International Journal of Research in Marketing 591.
  62. These issues have been the predominant focus of IP Australia’s reform work on the registered designs system. See IP Australia, ‘Enhancing Australian Design Protection’ Consultations (Web Page, 13 August 2023) <https://consultation.ipaustralia.gov.au/policy/enhancing-australian-design-protection/> and, ‘Design Initiatives’, IP Australia (Web Page) < https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/our-agency/our-research/design-initiatives> and Michael Campbell and Lana Helperin, ‘Redesigning Designs: The Future of Design Protection in Australia’ (2020) 121 Intellectual Property Forum 9, 13-15 ('The Future of Design Protection').
  63. Defining Design (no 10) 6.
  64. Protection of Industrial Design in Australia (no 43) 193.
  65. See Mitchell Adams, ‘Empirical Studies of Non-Traditional Signs in Australian Trade mark Law’ (PhD Thesis, Swinburne University of Technology, 2022)
  66. See Emma Caine and Andrew Christie, ‘A Quantitative Analysis of Australian Intellectual Property Law and Policy-Making Since Federation’ (2015) 16(4) Australian Intellectual Property Journal 18.
  67. Protection of Industrial Design in Australia (no 43) 196.
  68. Ibid.
  69. James Lahore, ‘Current Problems and Future Prospects in Designs Law’ (Paper presented at the Intellectual Property Law: Trends and Tensions, Centre for Intellectual Property Studies, Queensland, 1992) 30.
  70. The Future of Design Protection (no 62) 10.
  71. Defining Design (no 10) 4.
  72. See James Moultrie and Finbarr Livesey, ‘Measuring design investment in firms: Conceptual foundations and exploratory UK study’ (2014) 43(3) Research Policy 570.
  73. Designs Report (no 37) 2.9.
  74. IP Australia, 'Protecting Designs' (Research Report, IP Australia, 2020) 4.
  75. Ibid.
  76. Ibid.
  77. Ibid.
  78. Ibid 21.
  79. Ibid.
  80. Data taken from ‘Australian Design Search’, IP Australia (Web Page, 1 December 2024).
  81. See more generally, IP Australia, 'Australian IP Report 2024' (Research Report, IP Australia, 2024)
  82. Ibid 62.
  83. Ibid.
  84. Ibid 65.
  85. Ibid 66.
  86. Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (20 March 1883); as revised at Brussels on 14 December 1900, at Washington on 2 June 1911, at The Hague on 6 November 1925, at London on 2 June 1934, at Lisbon on 31 October 1958 and at Stockholm on 14 July 1967, and as amended on 28 September 1979. See more information at ‘Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property’, World Intellectual Property Organisation (Web Page) <https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/paris/>
  87. LocarnoAgreementEstablishinganInternationalClassificationforIndustrialDesigns(Locarno,8October1968).See‘LocarnoAgreementEstablishinganInternationalClassificationforIndustrialDesigns’WorldIntellectualPropertyOrganisation(WebPage)<https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/classification/locarno/>ocarnoAgreementEstablishinganInternationalClassificationforIndustrialDesigns(Locarno,8October1968).See‘LocarnoAgreementEstablishinganInternationalClassificationforIndustrialDesigns’WorldIntellectualPropertyOrganisation(WebPage)<https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/classification/locarno/>World Intellectual Property OrganisationalClassificationforIndustrialDesigns(Locarno,8October1968).See‘LocarnoAgreementEstablishinganInternationalClassificationforIndustrialDesigns’WorldIntellectualPropertyOrganisation(WebPage)<https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/classification/locarno/>
  88. Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, 15 April 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation, Annex 1C, 1869 UNTS 299, 33 ILM 1197.
  89. Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs (November 16, 1925); as revised London (2 June 1934), Monaco (18 November 1961) and Stockholm (14 July 1967). See ‘Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs’, World Intellectual Property Organisation (Web Page) <https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/registration/hague/>