VESSEL HULL DESIGN PROTECTION ACT (VHDPA) A federal law that protects vessel hulls In effect since October 28, 1998 Administered by the Copyright Office But is NOT copyright protection for vessel hulls, and does NOT substitute for design patent protection IS special design protection for vessel hulls

DESIGNS PROTECTED UNDER VHDPA “The design of a vessel hull, including a plug or mold….” Must be an original design May be an adaptation of an existing design Must be actually constructed

KEY DEFINITION ORIGINAL: must be the “result of the designer’s creative endeavor” That provides a “distinguishable variation over prior work pertaining to similar vessel hulls” And this creative endeavor must result in a design that is more than “merely trivial and has not been copied from another source.”

KEY DEFINITION VESSEL: A craft Designed and capable of independently steering a water course Through its own means of propulsion That is capable of carrying and transporting one or more passengers.

KEY DEFINITION HULL: The frame or body of a vessel Including the deck of a vessel Exclusive of masts, sails, yards, and rigging And exclusive of any featured added on to the deck after the deck’s manufacture

DESIGNS NOT PROTECTED Unoriginal designs Staple or commonplace designs Designs which are not distinguishable variations of staple or commonplace designs Designs made public by the owner of design before October 28, 1998 Designs made public more than two(2) years before an application was filed in the Copyright Office.

EXCLUSIVE PROTECTION RIGHTS The owner of a protected design has the exclusive rights To make, have made, or import, for sale or use in the trade To sell or distribute for sale or for use in the trade

WHEN PROTECTION BEGINS Whichever date is earliest between: The date the design is first made public, or The date on which the Copyright Office posts your registration to its website.

LENGTH OF PROTECTION UNDER VHDPA For ten(10) years after protection begins Automatically terminates upon issuance of a design patent for the design

PLACING DESIGN NOTICE ON THE VESSEL Place a design notice on your design whenever it is made public Mark it legibly with a notice consisting of three elements: (1)letter “D” in a circle; (2)year protection began; and (3)name, abbreviation of name, or symbol identifying owner Place the notice in a place where you would expect others to look for it or to find it without much difficulty You do not need permission from the Copyright Office, and do not need to register in the Office

REGISTRATION IN THE COPYRIGHT OFFICE The owner of a design may file an application to register at any time before, or within the two(2) years after, the design was first made public The application filing must consist of an application Form D-VH; two(2) sets of photographic or/and drawn representations of the design; and a $140 fee for each different design.

COMPLETING THE APPLICATION FORM A single application Form D-VH may be used for more than one design. BUT: the basic fee for each design still is $140. Avoid any references to add-ons made to the deck after its manufacture Give a specific, thorough description of the structural design aspects of the deck and hull which make your design original and more than a trivial variation of existing designs in the trade

AVOID THESE PROBLEMS IN THE APPLICATION References to design patent systems, ideas, concepts References to only minor, trivial adaptations made to existing vessel designs Articles which are not crafts under the VHDPA (surfboards, barges, pontoons, hydroplanes)

DEPOSIT MATERIALS See the Copyright Office website for interim regulations ( Either black-inked drawings, or photographs, or both, may be deposited on 8\1/2\’’ x 11’’ sheets of white, unruled, unlined paper. Show the vessel design as constructed, being sure to show all of the most salient design perspectives and features No more than two(2) drawings or two(2) photos per page Do NOT combine drawings with photographs on any page

WHY SHOULD I REGISTER A DESIGN? If you have not made the design public, then protection under VHDPA begins with posting of your registration to the website If you made a design public, then register within two(2) years so that protection is not lost A certificate of registration allows you to file a complaint in federal court Once in court, a certificate of registration Office must be given prima facie status of the facts represented in the certificate

APPLY FOR COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION, ALSO? NO, not for the shape, form, structural design of the hull and deck. These are not copyrightable under copyright law because they are useful articles. BUT: there might be copyright protection for a purely decorative pictorial or graphic design on the surface of the hull or deck

APPLY FOR DESIGN PATENT, ALSO? A business decision for you to make. Design patent still available to you, if you satisfy the eligibility requirements. VHDPA does not extend the equivalent of design patent protection. VHDPA protection terminates when any design patent is issued.

INFRINGEMENT IS Any unauthorized exercise of the exclusive rights granted to the design owner, except… Some exceptions for innocent sellers, makers, importers, distributors; And, an exception for innocent “acts in the ordinary course of business” If a design is both original and not substantially similar to another design, then it has not been “copied” from that other design, and thus cannot be infringing

NEED HELP? Visit the Copyright Office website Contact Bill Roberts: Contact John Ashley: