The Patents County Court held that a design for a knitted mesh bait bag used by anglers was excluded from protection as a UK unregistered design because it was a method or principle of construction.
However the design was not excluded from protection as a Community unregistered design. Â
Even so the court found that the defendants had arrived at their design independently and had not copied the claimants’ design.
This decision highlights the alternative approaches made by the courts when it considers the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Community Designs Regulation (6/2002/EC)
