Why the New Intellectual Property Bill Might Tranform the Fashion Industry
Last week, we passed along the news that New York Senator Charles E. Schumer introduced a bill to the US Senate called the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act. It provides “very limited intellectual property protection to the most original design." The bill was passed by the House of Representatives in April 2009. It was then amended with input from different groups within the fashion industry, and is now being presented to the Senate. If it passes in the Senate, it will become a law. (As long as the President signs off on it, that is.) We know that the law will help to protect original designs from piracy, but how? Susan Scafidi, an intellectual property attorney and author of the popular fashion law blog Counterfeit Chic, broke it down for us. PS: If you're interested in fashion and intellectual property law, you should be following Scafidi. She teaches a fashion law course at Fordham Law School and has been instrumental in launching Fordham's Fashion Law Institute, where she serves as Director. But back to the bill. Here's what it aims to do: