Expert: Nyall Engfield - 4/13/2009

Question
Hi, there are many fabrics available to purchase but they don't have the designs that i would like so how do i go about using my own designs and getting them patented .

Answer
In Canada, fashion designs are typically protected, in the sketch or drawing stage, by copyright, and in the finished article stage, by industrial design. Industrial designs apply instead of patents because industrial designs protect the aesthetic features of an article, and fashion designs are for the most part aesthetic in nature. A patent would apply where a useful feature is also new, for instance, a new mechanism for closing a belt or a vest, for instance.

Your new design will be protected by copyright automatically when it is created, so long as it is your creation and not copied from elsewhere. You may register a copyright, which gives you some legal benefits, but is not necessary to obtaining protection. An industrial design must be registered for a small fee with the intellectual property office and should show the article from various angles, in one form only.

Since fashion designs do not fit neatly into any of the traditional intellectual property protections, there have been discussions at various times in front of lawmakers to bring about special protection for fashion designs. However, nothing specific has come of it yet. One issue that has added complexity to the discussion is the short amount of time in which something is fashionable; another is that sharing in the fashion world is generally viewed as positive and any new law would not want to unduly limit that.