I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2196 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to extend protection to fashion 

design, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2009 

Mr. DELAHUNT (for himself, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. 

ISSA, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. BONO MACK, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. COBLE, Mr. MAFFEI, Mr. 

WEINER, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. WATERS, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. 

MALONEY, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, and Ms. DELAURO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 17, United States Code, to extend protection 

to fashion design, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Design Piracy Prohibi5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE. 

7 (a) DESIGNS PROTECTED.—Section 1301 of title 17, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2196 IH

1 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(3) FASHION DESIGN.—A fashion design is 

4 subject to protection under this chapter.’’; and 

5 (2) in subsection (b)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, or an 

7 article of apparel,’’ after ‘‘plug or mold’’; and 

8 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(7) A ‘fashion design’— 

10 ‘‘(A) is the appearance as a whole of an 

11 article of apparel, including its ornamentation; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) includes original elements of the arti14 cle of apparel or the original arrangement or 

15 placement of original or non-original elements 

16 as incorporated in the overall appearance of the 

17 article of apparel. 

18 ‘‘(8) The term ‘design’ includes fashion design, 

19 except to the extent expressly limited to the design 

20 of a vessel. 

21 ‘‘(9) The term ‘apparel’ means— 

22 ‘‘(A) an article of men’s, women’s, or chil23 dren’s clothing, including undergarments, outer24 wear, gloves, footwear, and headgear; 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2196 IH

1 ‘‘(B) handbags, purses, wallets, duffel 

2 bags, suitcases, tote bags, and belts; and 

3 ‘‘(C) eyeglass frames. 

4 ‘‘(10) In the case of a fashion design, the term 

5 ‘trend’ means a newly popular concept, idea, or prin6 ciple expressed in, or as part of, a wide variety of 

7 designs of articles of apparel that create an imme8 diate amplified demand for articles of apparel em9 bodying that concept, idea, or principle.’’. 

10 (b) DESIGNS NOT SUBJECT TO PROTECTION.—Sec11 tion 1302(5) of title 17, United States Code, is amend12 ed— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘(5)(A) in 

14 the case of a design of a vessel hull,’’; 

15 (2) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

16 and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(B) in the case of a fashion design, embodied 

19 in a useful article that was made public by the de20 signer or owner in the United States or a foreign 

21 country more than 6 months before the date of the 

22 application for registration under this chapter.’’. 

23 (c) REVISIONS, ADAPTATIONS, AND REARRANGE24 MENTS.—Section 1303 of title 17, United States Code, is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The presVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:41 May 02, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2196.IH H2196

jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2196 IH

1 ence or absence of a particular color or colors or of a pic2 torial or graphic work imprinted on fabric shall not be con3 sidered in determining the originality of a fashion design 

4 under section 1301 or 1302 or this section or the simi5 larity or absence of similarity of fashion designs in deter6 mining infringement under section 1309.’’. 

7 (d) TERM OF PROTECTION.—Section 1305(a) of title 

8 17, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 

10 protection provided under this chapter— 

11 ‘‘(1) for a design of a vessel hull, shall continue 

12 for a term of 10 years beginning on the date of the 

13 commencement of protection under section 1304; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(2) for a fashion design, shall continue for a 

16 term of 3 years beginning on the date of the com17 mencement of protection under section 1304.’’. 

18 (e) INFRINGEMENT.—Section 1309 of title 17, 

19 United States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘that a design 

21 was protected’’ and inserting ‘‘or reasonable grounds 

22 to know that protection for the design is claimed’’; 

23 (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol24 lows: 

25 ‘‘(e) INFRINGING ARTICLE DEFINED.— 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2196 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As used in this section, an 

2 ‘infringing article’ is any article the design of which 

3 has been copied from a design protected under this 

4 chapter, or from an image thereof, without the con5 sent of the owner of the protected design. An in6 fringing article is not an illustration or picture of a 

7 protected design in an advertisement, book, peri8 odical, newspaper, photograph, broadcast, motion 

9 picture, or similar medium. 

10 ‘‘(2) VESSEL HULL DESIGN.—In the case of a 

11 design of a vessel hull, a design shall not be deemed 

12 to have been copied from a protected design if it is 

13 original and not substantially similar in appearance 

14 to a protected design. 

15 ‘‘(3) FASHION DESIGN.—In the case of a fash16 ion design, a design shall not be deemed to have 

17 been copied from a protected design if it is original 

18 and not closely and substantially similar in overall 

19 visual appearance to a protected design, if it merely 

20 reflects a trend, or if it is the result of independent 

21 creation. This paragraph shall not be construed to 

22 permit the copying of a discrete design protected by 

23 this chapter.’’; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2196 IH

1 ‘‘(h) SECONDARY LIABILITY.—The doctrines of sec2 ondary infringement or secondary liability that are applied 

3 in actions under chapter 5 of this title apply to the same 

4 extent to actions under this chapter. Any person who is 

5 liable under either such doctrine under this chapter is sub6 ject to all the remedies provided under this chapter, in7 cluding those attributable to any underlying or resulting 

8 infringement.’’. 

9 (f) APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION.—Section 1310 

10 of title 17, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(a) TIME LIMIT FOR APPLICATION FOR REGISTRA14 TION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) VESSEL HULL DESIGN.—In the case of a 

16 design of a vessel hull, protection under this chapter 

17 shall be lost if application for registration of the de18 sign is not made within 2 years after the date on 

19 which the design is first made public. 

20 ‘‘(2) FASHION DESIGN.—In the case of a fash21 ion design, protection under this chapter shall be 

22 lost if application for registration of the design is 

23 not made within 6 months after the date on which 

24 the design is first made public by the designer or 

25 owner in the United States or a foreign country.’’; 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
7 

•HR 2196 IH

1 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘offered for 

2 sale’’ and inserting ‘‘offered for individual or public 

3 sale’’; and 

4 (3) in subsection (d)— 

5 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

6 through (6) as subparagraphs (A) through (F), 

7 respectively, and moving such subparagraphs 2 

8 ems to the right; 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘The application for reg10 istration shall be made to the Administrator 

11 and shall state—’’ and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The application for reg13 istration shall be made to the Administrator and 

14 shall state—’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(2) VESSEL HULL DESIGNS.—In the case of a 

17 design of a vessel hull, the application for registra18 tion may include a description setting forth the sa19 lient features of the design, but the absence of such 

20 a description shall not prevent registration under 

21 this chapter. 

22 ‘‘(3) FASHION DESIGNS.—In the case of a fash23 ion design, the Administrator shall require a brief 

24 description of the design for purposes of matching 

25 the search criteria of the searchable database estabVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:41 May 02, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2196.IH H2196

jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
8 

•HR 2196 IH

1 lished under section 1333, except that such brief de2 scriptions shall in no way limit the protection grant3 ed to the design or the subject matter of the reg4 istration under this chapter.’’. 

5 (g) RECOVERY FOR INFRINGEMENT.—Section 1323 

6 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘$50,000 or $1 per copy’’ and inserting ‘‘250,000 or $5 

8 per copy’’. 

9 (h) PENALTY FOR FALSE REPRESENTATION.—Sec10 tion 1327 of title 17, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘$500’’ and inserting ‘‘5,000’’; 

12 and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘$10,000’’. 

15 (i) COMMON LAW AND OTHER RIGHTS UNAF16 FECTED.—Section 1330 of title 17, United States Code, 

17 is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 

19 semicolon; 

20 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and 

21 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(3) any rights that may exist under provisions 

24 of this title other than this chapter.’’. 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
9 

•HR 2196 IH

1 (j) SEARCHABLE DATABASE FOR FASHION DE2 SIGN.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 17, 

4 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 1333. Searchable database for fashion design 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall estab8 lish and maintain a computerized database of fashion de9 signs protected under this chapter. The database— 

10 ‘‘(1) shall be searchable electronically, by gen11 eral apparel and accessory categories; 

12 ‘‘(2) shall include the information required by 

13 subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), (D), and (F) of para14 graph (1), and paragraph (3), or section 1310(d); 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(3) shall be available to the public without a 

17 fee or other access charge. 

18 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The database 

19 under subsection (a) shall contain a substantially complete 

20 visual representation of all fashion designs that have been 

21 submitted for registration under this chapter, and shall 

22 include information as to the status of those designs, such 

23 as whether such designs are— 

24 ‘‘(1) registered under section 1313(a); 

25 ‘‘(2) denied registration under section 1313 (b); 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
10 

•HR 2196 IH

1 ‘‘(3) cancelled under section 1313(c); or 

2 ‘‘(4) expired under section 1305.’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

4 sections for chapter 13 of title 17, United States 

5 Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

‘‘1333. Searchable database for fashion design.’’. 

7 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

9 as may be necessary to carry out the amendments 

10 made by this subsection. 

11 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

12 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

13 take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS