Registered designs: what manufacturers ought to know

摘要

Paul Kirton of law firm M + K offers advice to Australian manufacturer about the importance of obtaining a registered design to ensure their products are protected from design infringements and gives an example of a successfully tried case against an importer from China. We are increasingly seeing, across our desks and in the media, Australian manufacturers and innovators having their products copied. Usually these copies are sourced from overseas, and are offered at lower prices. The importers don't have the R&D expense to recoup and the copies are often made of inferior materials. Even if these copies are of inferior quality, they are often substantially similar in design.