Each year thousands of designs are lodged on ACID’s Copyright & Design Databank. This does not add to Unregistered Design Rights (UDR) but provides reliable 3rd party independent evidence of date of receipt by ACID i.e., an audit trail. Design files are held on our secure system and remain unseen by anyone unless required as evidence to substantiate design ownership. The majority of settlements on behalf of ACID members have been based on unregistered design rights. Enforcement of unregistered design right infringement is only as good as the evidence you can provide to substantiate ownership. Unregistered Design right only protects the shape or configuration of a 3D product. The IPO explains the differences between registered and unregistered design right further here.
Providing third party evidence to support unregistered design rights through the ACID Databank has proved to be an essential part of ACID Members’ IP strategies. From the original hard copy receipt of designs in the early 2000’s through disks, memory sticks and emails, ACID now has an amazing online upload system, accessible through the ACID website, which records and locks every file received with a unique identifying number.
It is simple for ACID Members to upload files containing their copyright works, designs and products online to the ACID Copyright & Design Databank. You can upload up to 12 files per submission which can be image files or in PDF format.
A few key points before you begin submitting your files!