The EU fashion system proves sui generis solves commerce counterfeit best

The European Union Fashion creators can find much more straightforward and encompassing protection in the European Union than in the United States. Since the passage of the European Community Design Protection Regulation in 2002, the European Union has had a unified design protection system. Unlike the United States attempts to modify its copyright regime, this system of protection is sui generis, thus does not interfere with the constraints of previously established intellectual property rights (see Beltrametti, 2010, p. 168). The regulation establishes two routes for protection: An automatic unregistered community design (UCD) and a registered community design (RCD;Beltrametti, 2010, p. 168). Both the UCD and RCD grant to the creator the exclusive right to use their designs in commerce, take legal actions against infringers, and claim damages (Beltrametti, 2010, p. 168). This protection is available uniformly across all European Union member states. (Beltrametti, 2010, p. 168).The requirements for both UCD and RCD protection require that designs be “novel” and have an “individualcharacter” (Beltrametti, 2010, p. 170). To be novel, the design must have a new impression upon the consumer(Beltrametti, 2010, p. 170). The RCD grants 5 years of protection with the option to apply for four more extensionsof 5 years each (Beltrametti, 2010, p. 169). The UCD grants 3 years of protection to designs that are made availableto the public, starting from when the design was disclosed (Beltrametti, 2010, p. 169). This is similar to the American trademark requirement that marks be in use, however, UCD disclosure need not be used in commerce. Displays in trade exhibitions and various media outlets also qualify (Beltrametti, 2010, p. 169).In determining infringement, designs that were independently created are not infringing. Further, in determining whether a UCD right exists, courts look to the overall impression on the “informed user,” who issomeone who has a good knowledge of designs of the relevant article previously available in the market(Darcy, 2013, p. 90).