Final Project: Did you agree or disagree with the rulings. Provide some authority for your argument such as quotes from the book.

To know who owns the design is an important matter in the design industry, I asked the lawyer who owns the design if the client did not fund it initially or post of the design. “The true owner of the design will be determined by the instrument or contract originally entered into between the parties. If the client did not pay for the work, the designer can still sue for damages and made whole by the court. The court will award at least the costs the designer incurred in developing the design and in any case it would be advised that the designer trademark the design if it has not yet been done.” I totally disagree with the lawyer under this circumstance because this falls directly under copyright law. He stated to trademark the design, but it is a design and to copyright it gives “exclusive rights to make copies, to authorize others to make copies, to sell the work, right to display the work, right to perform the work and the right to obtain in court relief in the event other infringe.” I agreed with the lawyer on packaging issue where other companies use the same color and looks of products such as Tylenol. “Trademark law protects the rights of businesses who use distinct names, designs, logos, and signifiers to identify their products.” It is also very important to understand the difference between copyright and patent. “Copyright law protects all forms of expression fixed in a tangible medium” while patents protect ideas that take the form of useful, novel and nonobvious inventions.” The lawyer was asked if a fashion design was created and displayed at the trade show and someone took the design and sold it as their own, can they sue? He answered “if displayed at a fashion show before the idea was trademarked, then the designer may sue.” However there are also certain rules to this because of statute of limitations. “A person accused of infringing another’s copyright, patent or trademark may argue in defense that the plaintiff waited too long to file suit, that is they violated the statute of limitations. In civil cases, you can’t file suit more than three years after the discovery of the infringment.”