The Design Community’s Current And Future IP Challenges

A panel of professionals working in the design industry this week gave their views on the interaction between intellectual property, innovation and design.

The discussion took place at the World Intellectual Property Organization on 27 May, alongside the 29th session of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications.

Panellists agreed on the significance of design tittles in our current global economy. WIPO Director General Francis Gurry affirmed the importance of design with regards to innovation. He offered the example of the iPhone, where design represents a predominant part of the revenue generated by the product. He also stressed that applications for design protection throughout the world are rising.

Darlie Koshy, director general and CEO of the Institute of Apparel Management and Apparel Training and Design Centre in Gurgaon, India, explained the role of design from a social and economic perspective. He described design as a wealth creation tool and cited the Indian fashion and textile industry as an example. In India today, 35 million people are employed in the textile industry he said. This industry cannot operate without innovation, he said.

In light of this growing importance of design, Koshy affirmed the importance for the fashion industry of using IP to secure its interests in the long run and pointed out the difficulties some designers face when it comes to IP protection.

Regarding designs, he expressed the need for more simplified laws. He drew upon the experience in court of famous Indian fashion designers – from Ritu Kumar to Tarun Tahiliani and Suneet Verma – to demonstrate that creators in the design field do not seek IP protection through registration because of what he called the cumbersome, time-consuming and expensive procedures involved. Rather, they try to have recourse to copyright protection, a tool that they perceive as easier and faster.

Ravi Naidoo, founder of Interactive Africa and Design Indaba based in Cape Town, South Africa, said that for him, “Design is not innovation” and in that respect the creation of a design is not synonymous with IP protection. He explained that design is about the recreation of things, looking at old items in a new way. He stressed that in his practical experience it is only when designs were coupled with innovation that patents were granted.

Panellists also spoke about 3D printing and its impact for the IP protection of designs in the future. The different panellists explained that the revolution of 3D printing is likely to lead to problems over control of the use of designs, and wondered to what extent the current IP system is adapted to this revolution.