US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 17USC1302]

 
                          TITLE 17--COPYRIGHTS
 
               CHAPTER 13--PROTECTION OF ORIGINAL DESIGNS
 
Sec. 1302. Designs not subject to protection

    Protection under this chapter shall not be available for a design 
that is--
        (1) not original;
        (2) staple or commonplace, such as a standard geometric figure, 
    a familiar symbol, an emblem, or a motif, or another shape, pattern, 
    or configuration which has become standard, common, prevalent, or 
    ordinary;
        (3) different from a design excluded by paragraph (2) only in 
    insignificant details or in elements which are variants commonly 
    used in the relevant trades;
        (4) dictated solely by a utilitarian function of the article 
    that embodies it; or
        (5) embodied in a useful article that was made public by the 
    designer or owner in the United States or a foreign country more 
    than 2 years before the date of the application for registration 
    under this chapter.

(Added Pub. L. 105-304, title V, Sec. 502, Oct. 28, 1998, 112 Stat. 
2906; amended Pub. L. 106-44, Sec. 1(f)(1), Aug. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 
222.)


                               Amendments

    1999--Par. (5). Pub. L. 106-44 substituted ``2 years'' for ``1 
year''.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 1301, 1303 of this title.