Protecting a design

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Protecting a design
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Stacey

Joined: 18 Jul 2005
Posts: 8380
Location: Kernow

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 2:14 pm Post subject: Protecting a design

Can it be done? I was looking through an old sketchbook and saw something I'd been meaning to make for a few months. It's still tea cosies, mug cosies and coffee cosies but in a particualr design. I'm half way through making one and I really like the concept. I've checked the net and can't find anyone making the same thing - although a woman on etsy has done something similar in stitched fabric this week

Now, can I/should do anything to protect this design if it turns out no-one else is doing the same thing in felt or is it not worth the effort? Is it any effort or would just having photos showing when I made it etc be enough? I considered getting pics of it up on the blog/site asap (or I would if my dozy husband hadn't dropped and broken my camera

) to show when I made it etc but didn't know if that was a good idea

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45677
Location: Essex

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 2:25 pm Post subject:
We've never copyrighted anything except our trademark. Costs are high and it's not exactly straightforward. We had a trademark issue with a certain multinational media company, took years to settle, in our favour, but the costs to the point where they paid up were substantial. Might be worth talking to these people: www.fact-uk.org.uk

Mary-Jane

Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 18397
Location: The Fishing Strumpet is from Ceredigion in West Wales

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 2:27 pm Post subject:

Designs can be protected - but it is limited and can be very expensive:

DESIGN RIGHTS: Designs can be protected. Design rights can be registered or unregistered and rights exist for 2D and 3D designs, but don't protect the functionality of a design, only the 'ornamental or aesthetic aspect', ie. the appearance of a product resulting from its features, lines, contours, colours, shape, texture, materials or ornamentation.

The design must be novel and have individual character. If successful, protection can potentially last for up to 25 years, renewable ever five years.

Unregistered design rights exist automatically, like with copyright, and this lasts for 15 years, but must not be a common-place design.

Further information from the British Design Innovation Organisation here Stacey (they also have some helpful links): https://www.britishdesign.co.uk/index.php?page=newsservice/view&news_id=4577

Stacey

Joined: 18 Jul 2005
Posts: 8380
Location: Kernow

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 2:46 pm Post subject:
Hmmm - maybe the unregistered design rights thing would cover it anyway - it's definitely the aesthetics of the design I wouldn't want copied (this is all assuming no-one else is doing it already ) Thanks for the links - will have a trawl

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 2:57 pm Post subject:

Its an incredibly difficult areas with anything artistic as I understand it, to offer a parallell example, my brother is a wildlife artist, at a big exhibition there might be 20 different artists all showing paintings of say a hare in a green field. Each one is proud of their own 'twist' on the presentation, and those who know that genre can easily see the unique touch of each artist at work. To a new visitor though, they may come out and say ' there were 20 paintings almost the same there this time'. Doesnt stop each one being unique and saleable in its own right though.

What will set you apart is your trademark touch in the work, even if someone happens to be doing something similar, or by chance or even design makes something very close in years to come, it will never be exactly the same as the one you made. I think thats why its so hard to copyright designs for applied art

MarkS

Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 2626

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 3:03 pm Post subject:
this sort of touches on the marketing thing as well. If you have a good set of designs then legal protection is a nightmare. look as well at conceptual issues and Have you thought of some sort of 'label' to be used on your designs? think of the value of things like the steiff button or the thompson mouse.

Stacey

Joined: 18 Jul 2005
Posts: 8380
Location: Kernow

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 3:20 pm Post subject:
I've defintely thought of labels - I just can't afford them right now I'm actually trying to print my own, bonded to felt and add them as 'tags' but I'm still trying to work out how to attach them to the pieces.

hedgewitch

Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Posts: 5834
Location: Daft wench GHQ

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 3:35 pm Post subject:

Stacey wrote:

I've defintely thought of labels - I just can't afford them right now

I'm actually trying to print my own, bonded to felt and add them as 'tags' but I'm still trying to work out how to attach them to the pieces.

Is there anything that you could work into each piece as your signature? I'm thinking of the carver who did all the church pieces with a tiny mouse carved somewhere in each design. This would show that a piece was genuinely by you - something you are building up with your marketing anyway, and this would help to identify your designs.

It would also give you a nice unique selling point and something a bit interesting for the press to comment on if you promote yourself and your work through magazine/newspaper articles etc..

I have no idea how practical this is, so apologies it it wouldn't work.

Stacey

Joined: 18 Jul 2005
Posts: 8380
Location: Kernow

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 4:11 pm Post subject:
It's a good idea HW I'm trying to design something along the same lines as I do with the jewellery - with printed cloth bonded onto the felt. Like this But with my logo and name.

hedgewitch

Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Posts: 5834
Location: Daft wench GHQ

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 4:24 pm Post subject:
I like the label a lot. Would your sheep face go that small? I like the sheep

Stacey

Joined: 18 Jul 2005
Posts: 8380
Location: Kernow

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 5:21 pm Post subject:
I hope so. I'd have the label about an inch by an inch I think and print it onto silk so there's better definition. Maybe I just need the sheep.

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 5:29 pm Post subject:

Just a thought maybe for the future, but your sheep would work really well as a small metal 'charm'. I once had a corset kit that came with a tiny charm of the company logo to sew onto it as an embellishment (it was a little full moon face sort of thing), and I remember being rather impressed with the idea. Its possibly not something for right now as I would guess there is a certain investment in getting the design made, but I could quite imagine a little metal sparkly thing tucked away on some of your bigger things.

Another possible idea, what about a branding iron of your logo and stamp it onto tiny wooden tags?

MarkS

Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 2626

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 6:10 pm Post subject:

hedgewitch wrote:

Is there anything that you could work into each piece as your signature? I'm thinking of the carver who did all the church pieces with a tiny mouse carved somewhere in each design.

Not just church stuff. That's Thompson's. All the people who worked with him and then went off on their own do similar things - I've seen acorns, badgers, etc,etc

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 7:38 pm Post subject:
They're lovely stacey - could you felt them in by doing a really thin felt layer over the top, so you could see through it, but it was held in place? That might work nicely with metal thingies too ('course, it might be totally impractical - can't say I've had all that much practice with felt! I'm working on it.)

Stacey

Joined: 18 Jul 2005
Posts: 8380
Location: Kernow

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 07 10:05 pm Post subject:
They're bonded on so they don't need any felting on the top - just some stitching I'm a bit addicted to bondaweb atm

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