Regulating Fashion Designs by Intellectual Property Law: A Comparative Study and Proposed Reform Thereof

Regulating Fashion Designs by Intellectual Property Law: A Comparative Study and Proposed Reform Thereof

It is in line with our interest to facilitate our fashion industry incubation to share the increasingly demanded and profitable fashion designs international market. To effectively initiate this task, a mere reform to the current intellectual property system does not suffice, we need to consider establishing a sui generis one.
The intellectual property system is not specifically enacted for fashion designs, so there may be inadequacies in protection. For example, copyright law may only protect the graphic design of clothing, but it cannot protect the clothing itself. And the creativity requirement of the design patent law imposes too strict requirements on fashion designs and cannot cope with the reality of low creativity in fashion products.
R.O.C.'s intellectual property law is influenced by the U.S., but the U.S. Congress has admitted that, by comparing with the sui generis protection of European countries, its protection for the fashion industry is insufficient. This article proposes a sui generis system where the enumeration can provide precise and comprehensive protection, with a minimum level of creativity requirement and short-term protection period after registration.
Such a narrowly tailored sui generis system can afford the protection necessary to protect the innovative fashion designs and help drive the vibrancy of the fashion industry.