LB (Plastics) Ltd v Swish Products Ltd
Copying of a three dimensional object from another three dimensional object can infringe the copyright in the drawings from which the first object was made.
Facts
LB (Plastics) made a knock down drawer system, designed from drawings made by its designer. Swish Products produced a similar drawer system, which was designed to be compatible with LB's drawers, by studying LB's drawers. Swish did not see LB's drawings. LB sued for infringement of copyright in its drawings.
Legal principle
The House of Lords held that Swish had infringed. Copyright in a drawing can be infringed by making a three dimensional object which reproduces the drawing, even if the copying is indirect, through a product made from the drawing. Lord Wilberforce said that the question was whether Swish had copied a substantial part of LB's design, and that it had copied the features of the drawers that were essential to their design. The ability to rely on copyright in design drawings to protect functional products was later limited by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Related cases on copyright: infringement and defences
- Ashdown v Telegraph Group Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 1142, [2002] Ch 149
- Baigent v Random House Group Ltd [2007] EWCA Civ 247
- Deckmyn v Vandersteen Case C-201/13, EU:C:2014:2132
- Designers Guild Ltd v Russell Williams (Textiles) Ltd [2000] 1 WLR 2416
- Francis Day & Hunter Ltd v Bron [1963] Ch 587
- GS Media BV v Sanoma Media Netherlands BV Case C-160/15, EU:C:2016:644
- Hubbard v Vosper [1972] 2 QB 84
- Hyde Park Residence Ltd v Yelland [2001] Ch 143
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