Minister Kitt Publishes the Industrial Designs Bill, 2000

Mr. Tom Kitt T.D., Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs today (Monday 10th July, 2000) published the Industrial Designs Bill, 2000.

Publishing the bill Minister Kitt said "In a modern age it is crucial that the creators of industrial designs, as with creators of other intellectual property, are protected by a modern, comprehensive and user-friendly system of law. The Bill will provide that protection. It will also ensure broader and better access to information on registered designs and will enable and support e-business by virtue of its technology-friendly language."

Minister Kitt continued "The Industrial Designs Bill, 2000 strengthens the protection for intellectual property by bringing the standard of design protection up to meet the requirements of the EU Directive on the legal protection of designs and, indeed, goes beyond the minimum requirements of that Directive in the interests of Irish designers, Irish industry and citizens."

The Bill facilitates access to international registration arrangements under the so-called Geneva Act system under the Hague Agreement for the International Registration of Industrial Designs. This will permit Irish rightsholders to access protection for designs in a potentially large number of countries by a single application.

The Bill also provides a comprehensive range of civil and criminal remedies for owners of and applicants for registered designs which, combined with access to the Controller of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks for invalidation proceedings, will reduce the costs to industry and designers of protecting their rights.

Minister Kitt said, "This Bill will complete the first phase of my programme of primary legislative reform of the intellectual property system. I hope that the enhancements to intellectual property legislation over the last few years will encourage greater investment in related industries and will result in continued research and development activity in the Irish economy."