Industrial Designs Act, 2001

Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act—

“Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation” means the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation signed at Marrakesh on the 15th day of April, 1994;

“appropriate court” means—

(a) the District Court, where the damages or the value of the other relief sought in any action to which the application relates is not liable to exceed such sum as stands specified by an enactment to be the jurisdiction of the District Court for actions in contract or tort,

(b) the Circuit Court, where the damages or the value of the other relief sought in any action to which the application relates is not liable to exceed such sum as stands specified by an enactment to be the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court for actions in contract or tort, and

(c) in any other case, the High Court;

“author” has the meaning assigned to it by section 17 ;

“complex product” means a product which is composed of multiple components which can be replaced permitting disassembly and reassembly of the product;

“computer-generated” has the meaning assigned to it by section 17 ;

“Controller” means the Controller of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks;

“Convention” means the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20th 1883, as amended or supplemented by any protocol to that Convention which is for the time being in force in the State;

“Convention country” means a country, territory, state or area, which is a party to the Convention, other than the State;

“Council Directive” means Directive No. 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 19981 on the legal protection of designs;

“design” means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colour, shape, texture or materials of the product itself or its ornamentation;

“design of joint authorship” has the meaning assigned to it by section 18 ;

“design right” shall be construed in accordance with section 42 ;

“disability” has the same meaning as in section 48 of the Statute of Limitations, 1957;

“filing date” shall be construed in accordance with section 25 ;

“infringing article” has the meaning assigned to it by section 54 ;

“infringing product” has the meaning assigned to it by section 54 ;

“made available to the public” means published following registration or otherwise, or exhibited, used in trade or otherwise disclosed, except where these events could not reasonably have become known in the normal course of business to the circles specialised in the sector concerned, operating within a Member State of the EEA;

“member of the World Trade Organisation” means a party to the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation;

“Member State of the EEA” means a state which is a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17 March 1993 and as amended from time to time;

“Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

“product” means any industrial or handicraft item, including parts intended to be assembled into a complex product, packaging, getup, graphic symbols and typographical typefaces, but not including computer programs;

“Register” has the meaning assigned to it by section 30 ;

“World Trade Organisation” means the Organisation established under the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation signed at Marrakesh on the 15th day of April 1994.

(2) In this Act, a reference to a section, Part or Schedule, is a reference to a section or Part of, or Schedule to this Act, unless there is an indication that a reference to any other enactment is intended or otherwise indicated.

(3) In this Act, a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless there is an indication that a reference to some other provision is intended.

(4) A word or expression that is used in this Act and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in this Act that it has in the Council Directive.

(5) In construing a provision of this Act, a court shall give to it a construction that will give effect to the Council Directive, and for this purpose a court shall have regard to the provisions of the Council Directive, including the preambles.

(6) In this Act, a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or adapted by or under any subsequent enactment.

(7) A design shall not be deemed to have been made available to the public—

(a) for the sole reason that it has been disclosed to another person under explicit or implicit conditions of confidentiality,

(b) where it is made available less than one year before the filing date or, where priority is claimed, the date of priority, by a person as a result of information provided or action taken by the author or his or her successor in title, or

(c) where a design has been made available to the public without the authorisation of the author or his or her successor in title.

1 O.J. No. L289/28, 28.10.98.