Spoonfeed: No residual copyright protection for industrially applied designs in Singapore

Various countries around the world have taken different approaches to the question of how the law of registered designs and the law of copyright should intersect.

The design of a product clearly falls under the law of registered designs. However, as an artistic work, it may also enjoy copyright protection if the law affords this.

As regards Singapore, its policy is to "maintain the approach of minimal overlap between design protection and copyright protection in Singapore": Final Report, Review of Singapore's Registered Designs Regime. 

This means that if a design should have been registered as a registered design under the Registered Designs Act, there is no residual protection under the Copyright Act for the bundle of exclusive rights conferred by the Registered Designs Act.

In detail:

(a) If a design corresponding to an artistic work is registered under the Registered Designs Act, there is no residual copyright protection under the Copyright Act for the aggregate of exclusive rights conferred by the Registered Designs Act i.e. the right to make in Singapore for sale or hire or for use for trade or business the article (in respect of which the design is registered and to which the design or a design not substantially different is applied), the right to import in Singapore for sale or hire or for use for trade or business the said article, and the right to sell, hire or offer or expose for sale or hire in Singapore the said article.

(b) If a design corresponding to an artistic work is applied industrially (i.e. the design is applied to more than 50 articles), and these articles are sold, let for hire, offered or exposed for sale or hire in any country, and at the time when these articles were sold, let for hire, offered or exposed for sale or hire in any country, they were not articles subject to a registered design, then there is no protection under the Copyright Act for the aggregate of exclusive rights conferred by the Registered Designs Act (as mentioned in (a)).

Therefore, if one fails to register his design, there is no "residual" protection under the Copyright Act.

One exception applies - if the article is not registrable under the Registered Designs Act, then protection under the Copyright Act for the aggregate of exclusive rights conferred by the Registered Designs Act still subsists. Articles that are deemed not registrable under the Registered Designs Act are the following:

(a) works of sculpture (other than casts or models used or intended to be used as models or patterns to be multiplied by any industrial process);

(b) wall plaques, medals and medallions;

(c) printed matter primarily of a literary or artistic character, including book jackets, calendars, certificates, coupons, dress-making patterns, greeting cards, labels, leaflets, maps, plans, playing cards, postcards, stamps, trade advertisements, trade forms and cards, transfers and similar articles.

As such, if the article falls within the above categories, then it still enjoys protection under the Copyright Act for the aggregate of exclusive rights conferred by the Registered Designs Act.

The aforesaid is not meant to be legal advice; please contact me if you need specific advice regarding your case.

Honestly, I personally find the above policy somewhat harsh towards creators of artistic works particularly in fast moving industries such as fashion and jewellery where designs only last for a short period of time (and therefore it may not make financial sense to register for design protection). I therefore believe that there should be some unregistered design rights which last for a short period of time (say, 5 years) with the requirement being actual copying (rather than a monopoly right), such as is found in the UK or the EU.

But as the policy is already set in stone, designers and other entities who wish to enter the Singapore market should remember to register their designs. Singapore has a 1 year novelty grace period.