Intellectual Property In Fashion

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As a member of the fashion industry the subject of intellectual property is of interest, as the research will help to explain why intellectual property rights laws, have not prevented “knock offs”, “fast fashions” and design piracy in the United States regarding the designer’s unique creations. Explanation of Key Term Intellectual property rights (IPR) are defined as the protection of a person, inventor or creator’s creative expressions and ideas. These, rights provide protection for patents, trade secrets, trademarks and copyrights, as it allows only the inventor to benefit financially from the creations (Satterlee, 2018). Therefore, trade secrets are information, devices or processes that are produced by the creator as it gives the creator…show more content…
Each season, Haute Couture Designers present their luxury fashions during fashion week and in days discount manufactures have duplicate their creations at volume pricing as this phenomenon is known as “fast fashion”. Even though many industries will seek patents or copyrights to protect new designs and innovation, it is not as prevalent in the fashion industry. Unfortunately, many designers are not protected as it is arduous to obtain a design patent that meets the criteria of being “non-obvious improvement over prior art”. However, the author notes that even though patents are burdensome to obtain, trademark laws and trade dress have been used effectively to protect designer’s intellectual property by incorporating the used of logos, symbols and packaging which can sometimes impede the designer’s creativity and…show more content…
Useful article is "an article having an intrinsic utilitarian function that is not merely to portray the appearance of the article or to convey information”. However, this has been a daunting task for the courts to distinguish the designer’s original creation, as compared to a mere article of clothing (Tan, p.902, 2010). Even though designers cannot prevent “fast fashion” and “knock offs”, they can use trademarks which protect the connection between the product and the creator. For example, if “LV” which is a symbol for Louis Vuitton, was displayed visibly on a handbag, the trademark laws can serve to protect the designer from counterfeits. Nevertheless, it has been challenging for the United States to enforce (IPR) in the fashion industry, however, European nations have done a better job, and have been much more aggressive about protecting and enforcing (IPR) as it pertains to fashion. Conversely, to the United States French designer clothing are classified as “useful articles” and receive trademark and design protection under the law (Barrere, & Delabruyere,

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