For enterprises that develop styles, fashion design belongs to the field of practical art, so the tangible and intangible investment of human and material resources is very high. In this way, on the one hand, the high-cost development investment can not be protected by the market, on the other hand, it is easy to refute the samples and get huge profits.
Thus, a legal problem arises: how to protect the intellectual property rights of clothing products? Like other related industries, the legal norms of China clothing industry are gradually improving, and some new market conditions cannot be fully taken into account. Therefore, the relevant departments are also very helpless about the fraud of clothing styles. A comrade of the Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce once told the reporter that trademark infringement can be punished according to law, but there are no relevant laws and regulations on the imitation of styles, and even if enterprises report it, they can't handle it.
Therefore, last year, relevant industry departments and legal workers put forward an idea: within the existing legal framework, clothing styles should be protected by appearance patents. This idea has also been supported by the patent protection department. Because the application cycle of clothing styles is relatively short, the relevant departments have accelerated the examination and approval of design patents. Generally, a design application can get the patent application number on the same day, and the patent authorization can be obtained within 6-8 months. However, this appeal has not received enthusiastic response from the garment enterprises that need protection most, and almost no one has taken the initiative to apply for patents. Why is this? The reporter interviewed people in the legal profession and clothing industry, and found that there is a big gap in their understanding of this issue because of different starting points and different perspectives. People in the legal profession focus on the improvement of the law and protect legitimate business according to law; People in the clothing industry are more concerned about the development of the clothing industry and care that any law will not form obstacles to this industry. At the same time, they also feel that the current patent application for clothing appearance is far from the characteristics of clothing products themselves.
It should be said that it is a very good idea and practice to protect the rights and interests of enterprises from the height of law, but the clothing industry has many characteristics. It is different from the general standard products, its fashion, its practicality, its special relationship with the human body, and even its popular mode of communication all determine that it is difficult to protect it with general appearance protection. In this way, how to protect the original labor force of clothing enterprises has once again become a problem on the table. People in the legal profession believe that the design patent is very important for clothing enterprises. If used effectively, the design patent is a very important tool to shape the corporate image among consumers and improve the competitive position of enterprises in the market. Its advantages are: exclusive right: the design patent allows the enterprise to use it exclusively within the validity period of 10 year, and has the right to exclude others from copying or counterfeiting the design protected by the design juice in any form.
Strong market position: through these exclusive rights, others can be prevented from using the clothes produced by this enterprise in business, thus reducing competition and establishing an excellent image in the market.
Higher return on investment: after investing a lot of money and time to develop new clothing products, enterprises can widely publicize and commercialize the products under the protection of patent exclusive rights, so that enterprises can obtain higher return on investment.
Opportunity to license or sell the patent: If you choose not to implement the design patent by yourself, you can sell or license the patent to another company, forming a new source of income and enhancing the negotiating strength: the patent right can enhance the negotiating position and increase the possibility of obtaining orders.
Enterprise patent strategy: bring innovative products into the national patent protection system and build the enterprise's own patent library, so as to occupy the commanding heights of intellectual property rights, effectively prevent infringement such as counterfeiting and imitation, and always maintain a leading position in market competition. (Lawyer Li Zuta and Yuan Yang of Intellectual Property Department of Shanghai Huijin Law Firm) People in the clothing industry believe that the design patent does not meet the characteristics of clothing products and development. It is meaningful to raise such a question, which is of course meaningful for the protection of inventors' rights and the formation of industrial legal concepts. But this is more of its legal significance, and there are still some problems to be solved in practical application.
First of all, the characteristics of clothing itself determine that the patent of clothing design is of little significance. This is because, due to the special relationship with the human body, clothing products can not have great appearance characteristics. General clothing has two sleeves and two trouser legs. If you apply for this, no one else can make clothes to bite. Therefore, it is generally only a patent with local characteristics, and it is difficult to judge that it is unique. For example, Levi's jeans have a patented button design, but over the years, many products have similar or even identical styles. Because this patent is so unique.
Second, there is no precedent. So far, I haven't heard of any famous foreign brands applying for patents. It should be said that the history of foreign clothing brands is longer than ours, and the relevant intellectual property protection measures are more comprehensive than ours. Why don't they use patents to protect it? It is because it is difficult to judge and operate. In foreign countries, more is the patent of fabric, because it is technical and easy to identify.
Third, modeling patents are not conducive to the development of the industry. Clothing is a mass product, and its dissemination itself is a process of reproduction, which is very different from the dissemination of technical products in use. Through constant copying and variation, a new style is formed. In practice, no two clothes are exactly the same, so patents can't protect inventors. For example, your design is inlaid with red. Can I use green? If we must strictly put an end to plagiarism, then many of the whimsy of the masters will not enter our lives. In a sense, the master's popular release is actually popular source code, and many details are designed for our ordinary designers. If quotation is absolutely forbidden, then clothing is not a fashion industry, but a technology industry.