Intellectual Property Act 2014
Intellectual Property Act 2014
2014 CHAPTER 18
An Act to make provision about intellectual property.
[14th May 2014]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-
Part 1
Design
Unregistered design right
1 Meaning of "design" and "original"
(1) In section 213(2) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (unregistered design right: meaning of "design"), in subsection (2), omit "any aspect of".
(2) In section 51 of that Act (copyright infringement: exception for certain designs), in subsection (3), in the definition of "design", omit "any aspect of".
(3) In section 213(4) of that Act (unregistered design right: meaning of "original")-
(a) after "commonplace" insert "in a qualifying country", and
(b) at the end insert "; and "qualifying country" has the meaning given in section 217(3)".
(4) Subsection (3) applies only to designs created after the commencement of that subsection.
2 Ownership of design
(1) In section 215 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (ownership of unregistered design right)-
(a) in subsection (1), omit "in pursuance of a commission or",
(b) omit subsection (2), and
(c) in subsection (3), omit ", in a case not falling within subsection (2)".
(2) In consequence of subsection (1)-
(a) in section 213(5)(a) of that Act (person by reference to whom design qualifies for design right), for "the design was commissioned or the designer employed" substitute "the designer was employed",
(b) in section 218 of that Act (design qualifies for design right by reference to designer), in subsection (1), omit "in pursuance of a commission or",
(c) in section 219 of that Act (the title to which becomes "Qualification by reference to employer"), in subsection (1), for "in pursuance of a commission from, or in the course of employment with," substitute "in the course of employment with",
(d) in subsection (2) of that section, omit "a joint commission or" and "commissioners or",
(e) in subsection (3) of that section, omit "jointly commissioned or", "commissioners or" and "commissioner or",
(f) in that subsection, for "215(2) or (3)" substitute "215(3)",
(g) in section 220 of that Act (qualification by reference to first marketing), in subsection (1), omit ", commissioner",
(h) in subsection (4)(a) of that section, omit ", commissioner of the design",
(i) in section 263 of that Act (definitions), in subsection (1), in the definition of "British design", omit "the design is commissioned or",
(j) in that subsection, omit the definition of "commission", and
(k) in section 264 of that Act (index of defined expressions), omit the entry for "commission".
(3) This section does not apply to-
(a) any design created before the commencement of this section, or
(b) any design created after the commencement of this section in pursuance of a commission (irrespective of whether the design was commissioned before or after that commencement) provided that-
(i) the designer and the commissioner of the design have entered into a contract relating to the commission of the design, and
(ii) the contract was entered into before that commencement.
3 Qualification criteria
(1) In section 217 of that Act (qualifying individuals and qualifying persons), in subsection (1)-
(a) omit the definition of "qualifying individual", and
(b) for the definition of "qualifying person" substitute-
(a) an individual habitually resident in a qualifying country, or
(i) is formed under the law of a part of the United Kingdom or another qualifying country, and
(ii) has in any qualifying country a place of business at which substantial business activity is carried on."
(2) In that section, omit subsection (4).
(3) In section 218 of that Act (qualification by reference to designer)-
(a) in subsection (2), omit "a qualifying individual or, in the case of a computer-generated design,"
(b) in subsection (3), omit "a qualifying individual or, as the case may be,", and
(c) in subsection (4), omit "qualifying individuals or".
(4) In section 220 of that Act (qualification by reference to first marketing)-
(a) in subsection (1)(a), omit "who is exclusively authorised to put such articles on the market in the United Kingdom",
(b) in subsection (2), for "requirements" substitute "requirement",
(c) in subsection (3), for "those requirements" substitute "that requirement", and
(d) omit subsection (4).
(5) In section 264 of that Act (index of defined expressions), in the Table, omit the entry for "qualifying individual".
(6) This section applies only to designs created after the commencement of this section.
4 Infringement: exceptions
After section 244 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (but before the following cross-heading) insert-
"Miscellaneous
244A Exception for private acts, experiments and teaching
Design right is not infringed by-
(a) an act which is done privately and for purposes which are not commercial;
(b) an act which is done for experimental purposes; or
(i) the act of reproduction is compatible with fair trade practice and does not unduly prejudice the normal exploitation of the design, and
(ii) mention is made of the source.
244B Exception for overseas ships and aircraft
Design right is not infringed by-
(a) the use of equipment on ships or aircraft which are registered in another country but which are temporarily in the United Kingdom;
(b) the importation into the United Kingdom of spare parts or accessories for the purpose of repairing such ships or aircraft; or
(c) the carrying out of repairs on such ships or aircraft."
Registered Community design
5 Infringement: exception
(1) Section 53 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (permitted acts in relation to copyright works: things done in reliance on registration of design) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (1), in paragraph (a)-
(a) after "registered" insert "-
(b) after "corresponding design" insert ", or
(ii) under the Community Design Regulation as the right holder of a corresponding registered Community design".
(3) In paragraph (b) of that subsection, after "the registration or" insert ", in a case of registration under the 1949 Act,".
(4) At the end of that subsection, insert "or, in a case of registration under the Community Design Regulation, that the person registered as the right holder was not the right holder of the design for the purposes of the Regulation".
(5) After subsection (2), insert-
"(3) In subsection (1), a "corresponding registered Community design", in relation to an artistic work, means a design within the meaning of the Community Design Regulation which if applied to an article would produce something which would be treated for the purposes of this Part as a copy of the artistic work."
(6) After subsection (3), insert-
"(4) In this section, "the Community Design Regulation" means Council Regulation (ec) no 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community designs."
Registered designs
6 Ownership of design and application for registration
(1) In section 2 of the Registered Designs Act 1949 (ownership of registered designs)-
(a) omit subsection (1A) (which provides for the commissioner of a design to be the original proprietor), and
(b) in subsection (1B), omit ", in a case not falling within subsection (1A),".
(2) In section 3 of that Act (application for registration), omit subsection (2) (requirement for application to be made by person claiming to be proprietor).
7 Right of prior use
(1) After section 7A of the Registered Designs Act 1949 insert-
"7B Right of prior use
(1) A person who, before the application date, used a registered design in good faith or made serious and effective preparations to do so may contin ue to use the design for the purposes for which, before that date, the person had used it or made the preparations to use it.
(2) In subsection (1), the "application date", in relation to a registered design, means-
(a) the date on which an application for the registration was made under section 3, or
(b) where an application for the registration was treated as having been made by virtue of section 14(2), the date on which it was treated as having been so made.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the design which the person used, or made preparations to use, was copied from the design which was subsequently registered.
(4) The right conferred on a person by subsection (1) does not include a right to licence another person to use the design.
(5) Nor may the person on whom the right under subsection (1) is conferred assign the right, or transmit it on death (or in the case of a body corporate on its dissolution), unless-
(a) the design was used, or the preparations for its use were made, in the course of a business, and
(b) the right is assigned or transmitted with the part of the business in which the design was used or the preparations for its use were made."
(2) This section applies only to designs registered under the Registered Designs Act 1949 after the commencement of this section.
8 Accession to the Hague Agreement
(1) After section 15 of the Registered Designs Act 1949 insert-
"15ZA Accession to...
To continue reading
Request your trial