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Old 30th October 2021, 08:23
rossnzwpi rossnzwpi is offline
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I remember going to MUMA in NYC (The Museum of Modern Art) and being awestruck by the Cisitalia hanging in the air....
The boundaries between art and utility are tenuous but copyright has always been of limited duration and if you do not manufacture something for 5 years under EU law then you can lose it (the use it or lose it clause). A Trademark can be registered if it is used to give an impression to the senses that represents your company. Logos are an obvious example but Coke trademarked their recipe (as well as the font and the ribbon and the bottle shape they used). Trademark needs to renewed regularly and companies that are not in the same business cannot be said to be "passing off" their product as yours. In other words a sports car maker that copied aspects of Ferrari's brand could be easily sued but a chocolate maker would be harder to win against. Cadburies trademarked their shade of purple but I believe they were unsuccessful trying to prevent a company that was not in the confectionary business from using it. I guess you could argue that a kit car replica maker is not producing a product that will compete with or devalue a hypercar maker. Especially if the replica shape in question has not been "used" in five or more years.
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