Executive Summary

All of us are aware that law is dynamic in nature i.e., it keeps on changing with the change in the society. And nothing is more dynamic than Fashion itself. So there is a rising field of law approaching up known as Fashion law or apparel law which covers issues surrounding the life of garment products, from idea to its brand protection. This article is a summary of fashion law and the information lawyers need about the skills and qualifications required to grab the opportunities in this industry.

Design lawyers play out a wide assortment of undertakings, for example, giving lawful advice with respect to form, material, extravagance things, and restorative enterprises. It additionally incorporates a scope of administrations like marketing, diversifying, permitting and circulation understandings identified with design enterprises. Style law incorporates all the vital administrations for beginning new designs houses and give legitimate guidance to previously existing substances in issues identified with business and work issues, making Fashion law an extremely expansive territory to rehearse in for the legal advisors.

Individuals in this day and age have an overall fondness toward design/ fashion and they keep an eye on featuring their style sense by purchasing the items having a place with various brand names. In such a case, money becomes the greatest obstruction for people to buy brand new dresses, that is the place when contrabands and duplicates of the first manifestations act as the hero which results in a huge loss for the original makers. Counterfeit products represent an immense danger to the economy as well. In the design business, the duplicating is referred to as wilful falsifying as the purchasers while monitoring the fake items purchases the equivalent, which can be credited to a great extent to the immense gap in the cost between the original and fake product. France, the fashion capital has a very strict rule of criminal liability for buying a duplicate product, while India till now didn’t have any law regarding counterfeit of products. 

Duties of a Fashion Lawyer

The main task of Fashion attorneys is to advise clients on legal issues faced by the fashion industry. They include safety, sustainability, and consumer protection issues. A fashion lawyer needs to perform a broad range of services like drafting contracts and negotiating contracts, litigating trademarks, copyright, and other intellectual property act related issues.[i] One of the major tasks in practicing Fashion law is looking into export and import market matters related to the Fashion Industry. 

Intelletual Property and Fashion Law

Intellectual property law, trademark, and copyright are the most important aspects of fashion law in India. Intellectual property rights and fashion law are connected to each other. The manifestations of the plans which are being acknowledged as styles are the intellectual creation of an individual and the law of our territory looks to secure those manifestations by giving privilege to those makers an elite option to utilize such manifestations and exploiting them to reap monetary benefits. The Intellectual Property laws, namely the Trademark Act, Copyright Act, Designs Act seek to protect intellectual property rights related to creations of the fashion industry.

Trademark act plays an important role in the fashion industry as it helps in protecting a brand name, design, logos, and features of the fashion attires that are capable of distinguishing such attires from that of the others.[ii]In this regard, Micolube India Ltd. vs. Rakesh Kumar trading as Saurabh Industries & Ors.,[iii]the Plaintiff used a registered design as a trademark. The Delhi High Court observed that:

“having regard to the definition of a design under section 2(d) of the Designs Act, it may not be possible to register simultaneously the same matter as a design and a trademark. However, post-registration under Section 11 of the Design Act, 2000, there can be no limitation on its used as a trademark by the registrant of the design. The reason being: the use of registered design as a trademark is not provided as a ground for its cancellation under Section 19 of the Design Act.”

This judgment has thus extended the scope of trademark protection in India. Consequently, fashion designs registered under the Designs Act not only get protection from the Act but also from the Trademark Act.[iv]

Now looking at the Copyright Act Fashion design is an original art work[v] which is registered under the Design Act, 2000, and which gets protection under the Copyright Act, 2000. The design gets protection under the Copyright for the period of 10 years from the date of the registration.[vi]

The main problem faced by the fashion industry is copyright or duplicating of fashion design by other company which results in a huge loss for the original maker. To solve this problem copyright act, 2000 was introduced in the fashion industry to protect the designs of the original owner, but recently there are a lot of cases that took place relating to duplicating of designs including the case of Ritika apparels vs. BIBA[vii] because of certain loopholes present in our law system, where One party copied, rather lifted design from other party’s creation, reproduced and sold it in their own name. The party from whom the design was lifted moved to the court alleging copyright infringement. However, the defendants, who lifted the same design took the defence of Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act, 1957 and submitted that the act does not amount to infringement as the original right owners, Ritika Apparels has lost the copyright owing to the production of more than fifty numbers of products by industrial production.

Since a similar structure was not enlisted under the Designs Act, Ritika Apparels didn\’t have any methods for securing the said plan other than creating items having a similar structure under fifty quantities of times.[viii] Using the escape clause existing in the IPR laws, BIBA escaped from any obligation. Had the said structure be enlisted under the Designs Act, 2000 a similar plan would have been secured for an absolute time of 10 + 5 years. Be that as it may, maybe the creator wanted to have a monopoly on her design for a more drawn out timeframe and in this manner utilized the copyright law which later on betrayed her in this way prompting the BIBA to get liberated from any liabilities. 

Way Forward

Design law is a one of a kind claim to fame that is developing, however not many law offices work here. Taking courses in design law, licensed innovation, business and account, universal exchange, government guideline, and shopper culture can likewise give an establishment that may help your odds of work in this claim to fame. Electing to help with giving free lawful administrations the style network is another approach to pick up contacts and related understanding.

Fashion law is a rising region of law which is in its underlying time of being perceived as an unmistakable practice zone. The Internet has additionally brought before design experts new issues like counterfeiting which require lawful guidance and insurance. Lawful advice is required by Fashion houses to keep the smooth working of their Organizations on target. The introduction of the law in the fashion industry gives an overall strength to the economy where two different industries combine to be one to protect the industry from counterfeiting and other legal problems. 

Concluding Remarks

The style business has altogether developed in the ongoing years, controlled by the progression further fortified by the successful execution and utilization of laws. In any case, it has been seen that the architects more often than not neglect to secure their IP utilizing the legitimate course. We have witnessed such a pattern in the Ritika Apparels case and furthermore the People Tree situation where because of the absence of the best possible insurance the respondents abandoned discipline. Though a lot of changes have to be made in order to make a great impact in society the introduction of the law in fashion will help a lot of designers to create their design and be under legal protection so that they don’t suffer any loss.

While the facts confirm that it is practically difficult to thoroughly prevent duplicating and keeping others from replicating, if the creation is secured in a correct manner it decreases the odds of the misfortune by lessening the harm. In this way, it is of high significance that the makers of IP ought to consistently stay alert and should attempt to get the correct security for their creation. Likewise, the administration needs to think about the ongoing pattern of the forging and pass a law explicitly material to the style business, so as to ensure the IP of the nation and by and large to fortify the nation\’s economy. 

-Sohini Chakraborty

[i]An Overview of Fashion Law The Balance Careers.

[ii]IPR laws applicable to fashion industry in India.

[iii]CS(OS) No. 1446 of 2011

[iv] Supra note ii. IPR laws applicable to fashion industry in India.

[v]Section 2 (d), The Design Act, 2000

[vi]Section 11 (i), The Design Act, 2000

[vii]CS(0S) No. 182/2011

[viii]\”Fashion Law is an emerging arena of legal speciality\”, counsel Namrata Pahwa Bar and Bench – Indian Legal news.