Articles
Tag Archives: Designs
Furniture Suppliers Beware! Protecting your designs in Contracts
Sharon Givoni Consulting Arts and design, Copyright, Intellectual Property, Protecting ideas
Beware of hidden traps in trading terms and conditions There is a major industry issue faced by many furniture suppliers. Some larger furniture retailers have snuck some clauses into their trading terms which are disadvantageous to suppliers, particularly when it comes to protecting your designs from being copied. One of these clauses purports to give […]
Avoiding the Gaps in the Copyright/Design Overlap
Sharon Givoni Consulting Arts and design, Copyright, Intellectual Property
Takeaway tips The copyright/design overlap aims to deal with and eliminate dual protection under copyright and design law. Don’t assume your designs are protected by copyright. Consider design registration before you publicly disclose your design. Recently, our firm assisted a client who sold unique handmade jewellery through an online store. He shockingly discovered that another […]
Avoid having your ideas ripped off: Be proactive not reactive
Sharon Givoni Consulting Protecting ideas
Imagine that you have designed a new fabric pattern. You are getting ready to release it to the market. You know it will be a great seller and need to take steps to ensure it is not copied by a competitor. Understanding how intellectual property laws in this area work is critical for you to […]
Chinese Fakes. What can you do about them?
Sharon Givoni Consulting Arts and design, Intellectual Property
One question that Australian IP lawyers often get asked is what you can do to prevent your designs and products from being ripped-off in China. The issues surrounding IP protection are alive and well in China, which is notorious for its culture of copying, with “Naik” (Nike) shoes to “Adidos” (Adidas) tops right through to […]
Contract Law for Designers
Sharon Givoni Consulting Copyright
Who would have thought that contract law involves more than just boring jargon and signing on dotted lines? This article aims to give you clear understanding on your rights, responsibilities and obligations regarding contract law within the creative industries. It also explains in simple terms what a contract is, and the different sorts of contracts […]
Copyright and Wrong: A Basic Guide for Designers
Sharon Givoni Consulting Copyright, Intellectual Property
Here we examine what is copyright, how are creative works protected? How not to infringe someone else’s copyright, all with a particular focus on designers. Read more…
Preventing Copycats: Weaving Through the Legals
Sharon Givoni Consulting Arts and design
Imagine you come up with a great new pattern for curtain fabric that strikes a chord with consumers, a window shutter design or a special weave that flies off the shelves. What if you find out someone is copying you? Have you protected your IP? Can you stop them? How? This article considers how you […]
Unpicking the Threads
Sharon Givoni Consulting Retail and fashion Law
Textile companies or designers may be surprised to learn that, if you apply a three-dimensional element to your fabric, such as an embroidered or woven element, you could lose the benefit of copyright protection altogether. This article canvasses copyright and designs in the context of textiles. Read more… Kindly reposted with the permission of ATF […]
Print & Pattern Protection
Sharon Givoni Consulting Retail and fashion Law
In the fashion industry and while the basic rule to remember is simply “do not copy”, what will amount to copying in any given situation can vary on the case.” This article explores the topic in light of some recent cases on point looking at Seafolly and Cotton On case studies by way of example. […]
Textile Designers, Copyright & the Internet: Unravelling some common myths
Sharon Givoni Consulting Intellectual Property, Retail and fashion Law
For textile designers and businesses that sell fabrics, the internet can open many doors. The downside however is that this can expose you to an increased risk of being copied. This article provides tips about copyright on the internet and dispels a few common myths in the process. Read more…