Protect your IP - it's your business

Despite the importance of protecting intellectual property rights for the fashion industry, a recent IP Australia survey has revealed a large a proportion of the Australian fashion industry remains unaware of the intellectual property that exists in their designs and the protections the law may afford them, writes Lisa Egan.

The very lifeblood of the fashion design industry is the ability to create something innovative and unique. If there is no protection for this creative endeavour, then the design is open to attack and the ability to stay ahead of the pack is lost.

IP Australia recently conducted the Fashion Rules Survey in conjunction with The Australian Fashion Industry and The Fashion Group International. The purpose of the survey was to assess the Australian fashion industry's awareness of intellectual property law. The majority of the survey respondents were designers (55 per cent), with marketing professionals comprising the next largest group of respondents at 17 per cent.

According to the survey results, 8.9 per cent of survey respondents were not aware of intellectual property at all, while 39 per cent were just "somewhat aware" of intellectual property. Although design registration offers the most effective means of ensuring protection for original designs, only 66 per cent of respondents were aware of design registration, the same proportion for patents.

Awareness of trade marks and copyright fared better with 88 per cent of respondents conscious of trade marks and 76 per cent of copyright. In addition to completing survey questions, participants raised interesting intellectual property questions of their own, which centred on:
* the challenge of protecting the intellectual property in one's products in a world where business is increasingly conducted in a global market, via the internet;
* the costs and time involved in obtaining intellectual property and trade mark protection;
* the scope of protection offered by registering a design; and
* the protections available against pirating and counterfeiting.

These issues are important for the fashion industry whose viability rests on the dedication to quality of design, and the values associated with a brand by consumers. Many designers would be surprised by the ease with which design applications can be made, and the design registration system needs to be utilised by designers in order to ensure protection for their livelihood. 

Equally, trade mark protection should be sought not only for the name of a label, but also logos, aspects of packaging, and other unique features of the brand. Copyright protection (for which no registration is required) can also be important, especially for graphic designers where two-dimensional works are protected just by virtue of their creation.

While the law may take a while to catch up to technological advances, there are a number of areas in which protection is offered and should be embraced by the fashion industry. It is however important for those wanting to protect their brands and designs to be proactive, as it is often too late to take action after the design has already been copied. Intellectual property therefore needs to be treated as a serious and valuable business asset, so that the appropriate protections are put in place from the outset to insure the business against future attack.

By Lisa Egan