Primary infringer definition

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Copyright infringement

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) gives the copyright owner exclusive rights in the UK to carry out various acts in relation to the copyright work. Activities set out in CDPA 1988 carried out by those other than the copyright owner, without permission, may infringe the owner's exclusive rights.Status of EU copyright law in the UKAs of 31 January 2020, the UK ceased to be an EU Member State. In accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK entered a transition or implementation period of 11 months ending on 31 December 2020 (IP completion day), during which it continued to be subject to EU law. EU law introduced, or implemented, after the expiry of this period is not binding on the UK. For pre-existing legislation, the legal position existing immediately before IP completion day was preserved for the purposes of legal continuity, by taking a snapshot of the EU law that applied in the UK at that point and (for the most part) bringing it within the UK’s...

Comparison tables for design protection available in the UK

Comparison tables for design protection available in the UK Design rights The tables in this Practice Note set out the key differences between the various unregistered and registered design rights available in the UK. The design rights currently available in the UK are as follows: • UK registered designs (including re-registered designs and re-registered international designs) • UK unregistered design right (also known as ‘design right’) • supplementary unregistered design right (SUD) Each of the above rights differs in terms of qualifying criteria, scope and duration of protection. For more information, see the table below and Practice Note: UK registered and unregistered designs. Prior to Brexit, the UK designs regime was significantly harmonised with the EU regime. The Designs Directive (Directive 98/71/EC) harmonised the requirements for national registered design protection across the EU. It was incorporated into UK law through amendments to the Registered Designs Act 1949 (RDA 1949), which governs UK registered designs. However, UK unregistered design rights operate under a separate regime under the Copyright, Designs and...

View the related q&as about Primary infringer

If a supplier supplies an item to the next person in the chain (eg supplying mirrors to be used on a train for ventilation where a patent claims ‘windows for ventilating vehicle’), is it still possible for that supplier to be liable as a joint tortfeasor, or for indirect infringement under section 60(2) of the Patents Act 1977 even if they had no knowledge of the patent?

If a supplier supplies an item to the next person in the chain (eg supplying mirrors to be used on a train for ventilation where a patent claims ‘windows for ventilating vehicle’), is it still possible for that supplier to be liable as a joint tortfeasor, or for indirect infringement under section 60(2) of the Patents Act 1977 even if they had no knowledge of the patent? A patent can be infringed by: • direct infringement under section 60(1) of the Patents Act 1977 (PA 1977)—this applies to acts done in relation to patented products or processes, eg making, using or importing • statutory indirect (or contributory) infringement under PA 1977, s 60(2)—which covers the situation where the defendant is not supplying a patented product etc, but is supplying items which are so-called ‘essential means’ for putting the invention into effect (ie the infringement is one step removed from direct infringement in terms of commercial activities that are done which trespass on the patent rights) • common...