Ocular Sciences Ltd v Vision Care Ltd, RPC 289, 1997
Citation:Ocular Sciences Ltd v Vision Care Ltd, RPC 289, 1997
Rule of thumb:What is the test for getting a design lodged? It has to be new & not ‘commonplace’. This is the basic test.
Judgment:
Where new design is too similar to already existing ones on the market then it will not obtain protection. The facts of this case were contact lens manufacturers had 200 different designs of contact lenses – of tiny dimensions in differences - which closely fitted all eyes for all people. This was basically intended to make it difficult for new businesses to enter the field of contact lens manufacturing. The Court held that all of these designs were not sufficiently different to the contact lens designs already on the market and they did not qualify for protection, ‘Any design which is trite, trivial, common-or-garden, hackneyed or of the type which would excite no particular attention in those in the relevant art is likely to be commonplace’, Laddie J, para 428.
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.