Designers' IP ignorance

NATIONAL: One in nine Australian fashion designers are in the dark when it comes to design, copyright or trademark protection, a new survey has found. The survey, carried out by federal intellectual property (IP) agency IP Australia and Fashion Group International, found just 51 per cent of all respondents were "very aware" of IP, 30 per cent were "somewhat  aware" and nine per cent of all respondents were "not aware" of IP at all.

The types of intellectual property protection respondents were mostly aware of were trademarks (88 per cent) and copyright (76 per cent). Awarness levels for design registration and patent protection were equal at 66 per cent.

IP Australia, which announced the findings in its email newsletter, said many respondents were interested in increasing their  own awareness of IP with 73 per cent advising they would like general information about IP.

The agency said it would use the information collected as a result of the survey to help tailor a 12-month marketing and communications plan which would include seminars and events for future related activities.