Insufficiency for the unregistered protection for the fashion designs under US legislation

Анотація

This article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the issues and specifics of the protection for the unregistered fashion designs in the US. The essence and content of the legal nature of unregistered fashion designs is determined. Author states, that one of the main reasons why clothing design calls for more protection nowadays than before is a result of a fact that fashion designs can be copied so easily these days that sometimes they can reach retailor shops before the original products will be available for the consumers. Counterfeit goods are usually created as a simple copy of the original design without any input, so the time consumption is not as high as during the creation of the original design because there is no need in creating something new, thus the innovative process decreases. As well, in order to sell counterfeited products at a lower price point than original one usually cheap labour is used and working hours are limited in order not to pay more for the production. It is mistakenly concluded that counterfeit products and original models cannot compete because from the very beginning they were made for different markets. Nowadays some designs are so well imitated that sometimes it is impossible to make a distinction. Thus, for some consumers who can afford original product there is a choice either to buy a good copy but cheaper or to buy a product from an authorised boutique. As long as this choice exist it is impossible to claim that counterfeits do not cause any damages for fashion industry. By choosing the counterfeit products consumers make a demand for a future production of it and this circle is growing rapidly. The issue of formation and current state of the legal provisions for the protection of the unregistered fashion designs in US is determined and analyzed. The case law is analyzed. On the basis of the following research, ways of improving the legislation of the US in this field are proposed.

Класифікація

Ідентифікатори

Схожі роботи