Court of Appeal upholds unregistered design rights in suitcase design
Landor & Hawa International Ltd v Azure Designs Ltd [2006] EWCA Civ 1285
The Court of Appeal has agreed with the Patent County CourtÂs decision that the design owner enjoyed both UK and Community unregistered design rights (ÂUDRÂ) in its Âexpander suitcase design.
It decided that the suitcase design was not Âa method or principle of constructionÂ, and therefore not excluded under section 213(3)(a) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (ÂCDPAÂ).
The appeal raised three main issues, namely: (i) whether there was UK UDR in the Expander Design, or whether the design  constituted a Âmethod or principle of constructionÂ, falling within the exclusion under section 213(3)(a) CDPA (ii) whether the there existed Community UDR protection in the Expander Design, or whether the design constituted Âfeatures of appearance of a product which are solely dictated by its technical functionÂ, falling within the exclusion in Article 8(1) of the Community Designs Regulation (6/2002/EC) (ÂCDRÂ) and (iii) whether the judge was right to grant a quia timet injunction preventing the marketing and selling of the products even though the threat to do so had been withdrawn by the time proceedings were issued.
Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. Section 213(3)(a) should be narrowly construed, stating that it did not apply simply because a design served a functional purpose, unless that purpose could not be achieved by another means. The judge had found that the strips of piping in the design introduced a non-functional and even Âcapricious element to the final appearance of the ensemble. A design with both aesthetic and functional features would still be protected under the CDPA.
As far as Community UDR was concerned, the Court held that the judge was right to draw support from Recital 10 of the CDR, which states that Âthis does not entail that a design must have an aesthetic quality in order to be protected. Therefore, despite its functional features, the design would be protected under EU law.