Innovative Design Protection And Piracy Prevention Act vs Knockoffs

Innovative Design Protection And Piracy Prevention Act vs Knockoffs – The American fashion industry has been pushing hard in recent years for copyright protection for fashion designs. A number of bills have made their way into the House, but the latest bill was determined to be too broad. Clothing makers have said that they need protection against knockoffs, which have crippled the industry. Some knockoffs are able to produce high quality products, and some consumers never know the difference. After a few years of negotiating, Senator Charles Schumer introduced a bill that would protect the brands in the fashion industry, but would not make things unfair for the smaller companies looking to compete.


Schumer broad the two groups together, and said that he was only looking to protect the industry itself and the consumers. The proposed legislation provides very limited property protection on original designs. A designer has to claim that his work has been copied, and show that his design was copied during the process. It has to be proven that the copy is “substantially identical” to the original work. The bill covers all fashion designs, including handbags, belts and sunglasses.
It will be interesting to see how this affects the knockoff industry, which has grown in recent years, and has the ability to produce near identical replicas of many popular brands. Color, patterns and graphics can be used to establish an original design, and the knockoff cannot be completely similar to those distinguishing factors. This will provide limited protection for the largest companies in the industry.

Tags: Law

Category: Fashion News