Fashion industry is a seasonal industry in which among designers imitation is very common and to some point even desirable. In such a way, the trends, which are necessary for the existence of fashion, are emerging. These special characteristics of fashion have to be taken into consideration when drafting legal regulation for the fashion sector. Laws have to provide fast and short-term protection from copying on one hand, but the protection sought shouldn't be too strong on the other hand, as it would limit designers' freedom and discent innovation. The best form of legal protection for fashion design is unregistered Community design (UCD), which protects designs in EU form being copied for three years from the date on which the design was made availible to public in EU. Besides UCD, the Community design Regulation provides also the possibility of registered Community design (RCD), which provides stronger and long-term protectin for designs, which are expected to stay on the market for longer than few seasons. In the U.S., protection of designs is regulated in the area of patent law, however there is no short-term protection, similar to the UCD. This puts young and emerging designers into great disadvantage, as they don't have sufficient financial means to afford the expensive procedure for obtaining a patent. Of great importance in the fashion industry is also trademark protection. Traditional as well as three dimensional trademarks (in U.S. trade dress) can provide efficient protection against counterfeits. Fashion designs in EU are protected also under copyright law, as opposed to the U.S., where they recieve only very limited protection due to the utilitarian function of fashion items.
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