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Pat Concannon, a partner in Nutter’s Intellectual Property Department, discussed options to protect fashion designs in Art Law Journal. In the article, “Many Options to Protect Your Fashion Design, But No One-Stop Shop,” Pat provides an overview of the various legal forms of intellectual property protection for the fashion industry. He notes that the law has now shifted in a way that makes copyright law more useful for fashion article designers and manufacturers.

Pat points out that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has clarified and expanded how copyright law can be leveraged to protect certain aspects of fashion design. According to Pat, the takeaway for fashion designers is that there are numerous avenues to protect various aspects of a product. As with any legal issue, each product will have unique protectable design features and functions – and will require different forms of protection. The form of protection a fashion designer may seek can depend on a variety of factors including the time to market, the available budget, and type of protection needed. It is recommended that fashion designers seek advice from trusted fashion design counsel experienced in trade dress and design patent as to how to best protect products when bringing them to market.