The Global Future of Industrial Design Protection, a Lecture

From our friends at Pitt Law: we want to thank them about informing us on this very interesting event.

The Global Future of Industrial Design Protection

Thursday, February 26th 2009
4-5:30PM

This program is free and open to the public. A reception for all attendees will
follow the program.

Featuring:
The 2009 Distinguished Intellectual Property Law Lecture:
“The European Community Design Right: A Uniquely Tailored System for Protecting Industrial Designs”
by Prof. Dr. Annette Kur
Unit Head, Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law

Followed by:
Panel Discussion:
“The Future of Industrial Design Protection in the United States, Europe, and Beyond”

The burgeoning field of industrial design generates the unique and appealing appearance of products ranging from digital music players and automobile parts to convenience foods and furniture. A wide variety of intellectual property regimes protect the creativity invested in industrial design. The European Union broke new ground in 2002 by enacting the Community Design Right. In Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa (2007), the en banc Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rewrote the standards for U.S. design patent infringement.

More details:

The 2009 Distinguished Intellectual Property Lecturer, Prof. Dr. Annette Kur, stands at the
forefront of international legal protection for industrial design. She is a senior research staff member and head of unit at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and
Tax Law in Munich, Germany. Kur spearheaded the Max Planck working group proposal that formed the basis of the European Union’s Community Design Right legislation. Kur currently serves as president of the prestigious International Association for the Advancement
of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property. During the spring 2009 semester, she is a visiting professor in the Hauser Global Law School Program at New York University School of Law. Kur, who recieved law and doctor degrees from Munich University, has authored books and numerous articles in the field of national, European and international trademark, unfair competition, and industrial design law as well as international jurisdiction and choice of law. Following Kur’s lecture, a panel will join her to debate the future of industrial design protection in the United States, Europe, and beyond.

The panelists are:
Donald S. Chisum, author of the treatise Chisum on Patents;
Janice M. Mueller, Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Law; and
Daniel H. Brean, Esq., the Webb Law Firm, Pittsburgh.