Australian fashion goes global
Fashion resources
Australian Fashion Exchange: www.australianfashionexchange.com.au
Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia: www.tfia.com.au
Design Victoria put together a booklet to help those in the design industry go global. Download or request a hard copy of The Case for Export at www.designvic.com/Knowledge/Publications/TheCaseForExport.aspx. They also developed Transform Your Design Business (designvic.com/grants), an online guide that helps designers navigate the grants space and write strong applications.
Fashion Rules is a comprehensive guide created by IP Australia specifically covering IP in the fashion industry. Check it out at www.ipfashionrules.gov.au
Fashion & IP
Copying and counterfeiting are common problems faced by the fashion industry, both in Australia and overseas. Before showing or selling products in foreign markets, designers should consider the types of intellectual property (IP) rights that may be available to protect their label and their designs.
IP rights can be valuable assets; they can be sold or licensed, as well as deter potential copycats and help a designer take action against infringers.
IP rights can apply to a range of assets in a designer’s portfolio including:
- Copyright for artistic works such as original prints and patterns or handmade works of artistic craftsmanship;
- Trade marks for distinctive signs distinguishing one designer’s products from another including names, logos, slogans, colours, three-dimensional shapes and aspects of packaging;
- Registered designs for the appearance of items like garments, shoes and accessories;
- Patents for inventions and innovations such as new types of fabric.
Trade marks, designs and patents are rights that are registrable for a fee. Applications must first be examined to ensure that they meet certain criteria e.g. a registered design must be new and distinctive. Copyright, by contrast, is automatic and free in most countries but only applies to specific types of works.
It is important to be aware that IP rights are country-specific, which means that trade marks, designs or patents should be registered in each foreign market in which a designer operates. Note there are some differences in the scope and length of protection between different countries.
The total cost for a designer of registering IP rights in a number of countries can be high, although applications for some rights can be filed using international conventions that allow one application to be filed in a number of contracting countries, a more cost effective option for designers that export their garments to a large number of foreign markets.
Designers should also consider the nature of the item they wish to protect: for designs following a short-lived trend, costs of obtaining registered designs protection could outweigh long-term benefits.
Before filing, search the internet and foreign IP registers to check that foreign designers haven’t already registered or are not already using the relevant name or design in their particular country. Applications for IP rights should be filed as soon as a designer decides to enter or export into a foreign market. For patents and designs, applications should be filed before selling or marketing the products anywhere in the world.
—Eunika Janus, Fashion Rules project manager, IP Australia
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