Limitations of United States intellectual property protection for fashion designs and the need for sufficient remedies

Abstract

The US has provided fashion designer with some laws that protects their designs which are Trademark law, copyright law and patent law. However, it has not done enough to guarantee the maximum protection for fashion designs as each law has its limitations in protecting fashion articles. Trademark law and patent law have very complicated, difficult to apply and unclear requirements for fashion designs protection. While fashion designs are rarely protected under copyright law. Legal cases and courts decisions has shown the limitations of the legal protection for fashion designs under the US regulations, which support the need for the modification of current US regulations that addresses the protection of fashion designs. Moreover, there are several reasons why the laws in the United States regarding the protection of fashion designs need to be changed including the emerging of the internet and how it facilitated the imitator’s work. In addition to the increase of fast fashion companies, the unclarity of current regulations and their high cost. The EU has proved to be better in providing protection for fashion designs under registered and unregistered designs community and under member states national IP law. Therefore, the US should follow the EU lead in safeguarding fashion designs from being imitated. They also have the option to change and improve the existing laws to be more adequate and suitable to meet the protection requirements of fashion designs in the US.