November 26, 2003
#03-32
Press Release, 03-32
USPTO AND COPYRIGHT OFFICE REPORT TO CONGRESS ON EFFECTIVENESS OF VESSEL HULL DESIGN PROTECTION ACT
PRESS RELEASE
Evidence insufficient to determine overall effect on the boat building industry
The Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Library of Congress’
Copyright Office delivered a report to Congress on November 3,
"The Vessel Hull Design Protection Act: Overview and
Analysis.” Congress passed the Vessel Hull Design
Protection Act (VHDPA) as part of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act of 1998, providing intellectual property
protection for original designs of watercraft hulls and decks.
The VHDPA was slated to sunset after two years, but in 1999, as
part of the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus
Reform Act, Congress made it a permanent part of the law.
Congress directed the Register of Copyrights and the Under
Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property to conduct a
study on the effectiveness of the VHDPA and report their
findings to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. The
report indicates there is insufficient evidence to determine
the overall effect of this new law on the boat building
industry.
The USPTO and the Copyright Office held a hearing in March
2003 to solicit the views of the public for this study. Several
representatives of the marine industry and academia testified.
Their testimony, along with the testimony obtained in written
comments, is presented and discussed in the report. In their
analysis, the USPTO and Copyright Office officials addressed:
the effectiveness of the VHDPA in suppressing infringement of
the design of vessel hulls; the extent to which registration as
provided by the VHDPA has been utilized; the extent to which
the creation of new vessel hull designs has been encouraged;
the effect on the price of vessels with hulls protected under
such amendments; and other relevant considerations.
Although design protection under the VHDPA and copyright
protection are both administered by the Register of Copyrights,
they are not identical. Design protection differs significantly
in most respects, including term of protection, ownership,
eligibility, scope of protection and registration procedures.
While some designs that are eligible for design protection also
may be eligible for copyright protection, design registration
does not include a copyright registration. Copyright
registration must be made separately. While certain designs may
be eligible for patent protection, design protection is not
available, and registration may not be made, for designs that
have received patents.
The study is available on the Copyright Office Web site at:
http://www.copyright.gov/reports/
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