If you have ever been tasked with considering what types of intellectual property protection were available for a new packaging design, copyright may not be the first thing that came to mind. After all, it is trademark law that is designed to protect the public's association with a commercial name or logo, and in some cases the distinctive look (or "trade dress") of a product and/or its packaging. Copyright, on the other hand, was designed principally to protect an author's rights in literary and artistic works. Nevertheless, in some cases copyright may be available as an alternative or supplemental protection for product packaging.
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