Fashion Design Protection And Knockoff Prevention

As the development of fashion law in U.S., the issue of fashion design’s protection has been put on the table for years. It has been gradually realized that fashion design is also a form of expression. However, U.S. copyright law, inconsistently with the cultural shift, deny fashion’s role as an artistic form. Only limited portion of fashion designs can be protected by the copyright. Designers in U.S. mainly rely on the protection of trademark and paten, which have some unavoidable gaps. Most knocking offs are regarded as legal in U.S. Even though U.S. scholars, fashion designers and lawyers practicing in fashion industry have tried for long in lobbying the Congress to pass a bill, which is meant to amend the existing U.S. Copyright Law and incorporate fashion designs, almost little success has been achieved. In2012, the Congress vetoed the bill of The Innovative Design Protection Act ("the Bill") again.The knocking off market has been emerging and developing fast in China. It dose bring considerable profits, have and will facilitate the development of economy of China in short term. However, in the long run, a huge knocking off market will not beneficial for China, especially as the government of China wants to change its position in the industry chain. Along with the short-term benefits of the knocking off market, there are all kinds of problems and disadvantages. The existing legal protection system of fashion design in China cannot afford sufficient protection for the fashion design. It may not efficiently block the development of "excessive" imitation and copying, which would deteriorate the growth environment for Chinese fashion designers and fashion companies.In many aspects, the development history and current situation of Chinese fashion industry are similar to the history of U.S. fashion industry. Thus U.S. protection system of fashion design, comparing to the standard of European countries, may be more helpful and useful for China. The concerns of the Congress, for which they vetoed the Bill, should also be taken into consideration by China. This dissertation introduces the history of U.S. fashion industry, the current existing protection system (that is the trademark law, the copyright law and the patent law) and opinions about the Bill, which are based on the knowledge of fashion law the author has learned in U.S. law school. Also this essay introduced some existing practices for fashion designs in the world. Base on the analysis of U.S. acts, bills and cases related to fashion design protection, European regulations, international conventions and China’s regulations and cases, this dissertation discusses the possibility of the application of the Bill.This dissertation consists of five parts. The first parts, namely the "The introduction", lists some important definitions used and generally introduces the international practice in fashion design protection. Also this part shortly gives the purpose, meaning and importance of this dissertation. The second part generally introduces the development of fashion industry and the legal protection system of U.S. Meanwhile this chapter discusses the Bill. The third chapter focuses on the knocking off market and legal protection for fashion designs in China. The following chapter compares both the differences and similarities of fashion industry and legal system of U.S. and China. The fourth chapter examines the protection pattern of U.S. and gives some amendment suggestions of legal protection system for fashion designs in China. In conclusion of the dissertation, it provides that the bill of The Innovative Design Protection Act is reasonable, even though the Congress vetoed it. It affords reference that merit attention. China’s lawmaker may amend the existing copyright law, bringing fashion design under the protection of copyright law. A protection system, which is emphasized on copyright law and supported by trademark law and patent law, may be a better option.