I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2511 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to extend protection to fashion 
design, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 13, 2011 
Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mrs. 
MALONEY, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. COBLE, Mr. 
SCHIFF, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Ms. WATERS, Mr. ISSA, and Mr. 
RANGEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 17, United States Code, to extend protection 
to fashion design, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Innovative Design Pro-
tection and Piracy Prevention Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE. 
(a) DESIGNS PROTECTED.—Section 1301 of title 17, 
United States Code, is amended— 
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(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(4) FASHION
DESIGN.—A fashion design is 
subject to protection under this chapter.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, or an 
article of apparel,’’ after ‘‘plug or mold’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) A ‘fashion design’— 
‘‘(A) is the appearance as a whole of an 
article of apparel, including its ornamentation; 
and 
‘‘(B) includes original elements of the arti-
cle of apparel or the original arrangement or 
placement of original or non-original elements 
as incorporated in the overall appearance of the 
article of apparel that— 
‘‘(i) are the result of a designer’s own 
creative endeavor; and 
‘‘(ii) provide a unique, distinguishable, 
non-trivial and non-utilitarian variation 
over prior designs for similar types of arti-
cles. 
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‘‘(8) The term ‘design’ includes fashion design, 
except to the extent expressly limited to the design 
of a vessel. 
‘‘(9) The term ‘apparel’ means— 
‘‘(A) an article of men’s, women’s, or chil-
dren’s clothing, including undergarments, outer-
wear, gloves, footwear, and headgear; 
‘‘(B) handbags, purses, wallets, tote bags, 
and belts; and 
‘‘(C) eyeglass frames. 
‘‘(10) In the case of a fashion design, the term 
‘substantially identical’ means an article of apparel 
which is so similar in appearance as to be likely to 
be mistaken for the protected design, and contains 
only those differences in construction or design 
which are merely trivial.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—In the case of a 
fashion design under this chapter, those differences or 
variations which are considered non-trivial for the pur-
poses of establishing that a design is subject to protection 
under subsection (b)(7) shall be considered non-trivial for 
the purposes of establishing that a defendant’s design is 
not substantially identical under subsection (b)(10) and 
section 1309(e).’’. 
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(b) DESIGNS NOT SUBJECT TO PROTECTION.—Sec-
tion 1302(5) of title 17, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘(5)(A) in 
the case of a design of a vessel hull,’’; 
(2) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 
and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) in the case of a fashion design, embodied 
in a useful article that was made public by the de-
signer or owner in the United States or a foreign 
country before the date of enactment of this chapter 
or more than 3 years before the date upon which 
protection of the design is asserted under this chap-
ter.’’. 
(c) REVISIONS, ADAPTATIONS, AND REARRANGE-
MENTS.—Section 1303 of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The pres-
ence or absence of a particular color or colors or of a pic-
torial or graphic work imprinted on fabric shall not be con-
sidered in determining the protection of a fashion design 
under section 1301 or 1302 or in determining infringe-
ment under section 1309.’’. 
(d) TERM OF PROTECTION.—Section 1305(a) of title 
17, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 
protection provided under this chapter— 
‘‘(1) for a design of a vessel hull, shall continue 
for a term of 10 years beginning on the date of the 
commencement of protection under section 1304; 
and 
‘‘(2) for a fashion design, shall continue for a 
term of 3 years beginning on the date of the com-
mencement of protection under section 1304.’’. 
(e) INFRINGEMENT.—Section 1309 of title 17, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘offer for sale, advertise,’’ 
after ‘‘sell,’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘either actual or reason-
ably inferred from the totality of the cir-
cumstances,’’ after ‘‘created without knowl-
edge’’; 
(2) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(e) INFRINGING ARTICLE DEFINED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As used in this section, an 
‘infringing article’ is any article the design of which 
has been copied from a design protected under this 
chapter, or from an image thereof, without the con-
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sent of the owner of the protected design. An in-
fringing article is not an illustration or picture of a 
protected design in an advertisement, book, peri-
odical, newspaper, photograph, broadcast, motion 
picture, or similar medium. 
‘‘(2) VESSEL HULL DESIGN.—In the case of a 
design of a vessel hull, a design shall not be deemed 
to have been copied from a protected design if it is 
original and not substantially similar in appearance 
to a protected design. 
‘‘(3) FASHION DESIGN.—In the case of a fash-
ion design, a design shall not be deemed to have 
been copied from a protected design if that design— 
‘‘(A) is not substantially identical in overall 
visual appearance to and as to the original ele-
ments of a protected design; or 
‘‘(B) is the result of independent cre-
ation.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) HOME SEWING EXCEPTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is not an infringement of 
the exclusive rights of a design owner for a person 
to produce a single copy of a protected design for 
personal use or for the use of an immediate family 
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member, if that copy is not offered for sale or use 
in trade during the period of protection. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to permit the pub-
lication or distribution of instructions or patterns for 
the copying of a protected design.’’. 
(f) 
APPLICATION
FOR
REGISTRATION.—Section 
1310(a) of title 17, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Protection under this chapter’’ 
and inserting ‘‘In the case of a design of a vessel 
hull, protection under this chapter’’; and 
(2) by adding ‘‘Registration shall not apply to 
fashion designs.’’ after ‘‘first made public.’’. 
(g) REMEDY FOR INFRINGEMENT.—Section 1321 of 
title 17, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) VESSEL HULL.—In the case of a vessel 
hull, the owner of a design is entitled, after issuance 
of a certificate of registration of the design under 
this chapter, to institute an action for any infringe-
ment of the design. 
‘‘(2) FASHION DESIGN.—In the case of a fash-
ion design, the owner of a design is entitled to insti-
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tute an action for any infringement of the design 
after the design is made public under the terms of 
section 1310(b) of this chapter.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) PLEADING REQUIREMENT FOR FASHION DE-
SIGNS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a fashion de-
sign, a claimant in an action for infringement shall 
plead with particularity facts establishing that— 
‘‘(A) the design of the claimant is a fash-
ion design within the meaning of section 
1301(a)(7) of this title and thus entitled to pro-
tection under this chapter; 
‘‘(B) the design of the defendant infringes 
upon the protected design as described under 
section 1309(e); and 
‘‘(C) the protected design or an image 
thereof was available in such location or loca-
tions, in such a manner, and for such duration 
that it can be reasonably inferred from the to-
tality of the surrounding facts and cir-
cumstances that the defendant saw or otherwise 
had knowledge of the protected design. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In considering wheth-
er a claim for infringement has been adequately 
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pleaded, the court shall consider the totality of the 
circumstances.’’. 
(h) PENALTY FOR FALSE REPRESENTATION.—Sec-
tion 1327 of title 17, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘or for purposes of obtaining 
recovery based on a claim of infringement under this 
chapter’’ after ‘‘registration of a design under this 
chapter’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘$500’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’; 
and 
(3) 
by 
striking 
‘‘$1,000’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘$10,000’’. 
(i) 
NONAPPLICABILITY
OF
ENFORCEMENT
BY 
TREASURY AND POSTAL SERVICE.—Section 1328 of title 
17, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by 
striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘In the case 
of designs of vessel hulls protected under this chap-
ter, the Secretary’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by 
striking ‘‘Articles’’ and inserting ‘‘In the case of de-
signs of vessel hulls protected under this chapter, ar-
ticles’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(c) NONAPPLICABILITY.—This section shall not 
apply to fashion designs protected under this chapter.’’. 
(j) COMMON
LAW
AND
OTHER
RIGHTS
UNAF-
FECTED.—Section 1330 of title 17, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 
semicolon; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and 
inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) any rights that may exist under provisions 
of this title other than this chapter.’’. 
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 
take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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