§1321 Remedy for Infringement

Summary

If a design gets a registration certificate, the owner can sue anyone who copies or uses it without permission. If the Administrator refuses to register a design, the owner can go to court to challenge that refusal and, if the court finds the design is protectable, ask the court to enforce the design rights in the same case. To do that, the owner must have already filed and taken the application to a final refusal, must give the Administrator a copy of the complaint within 10 days after starting the case, and there must be defendant actions that would be infringement if the design were protected. The Administrator may join the case within 60 days after being served. The parties may also use arbitration under Title 9, following any time limits the Administrator sets. They must tell the Administrator about any arbitration award; the award decides the issues between the parties but cannot be enforced until notice is given. The Administrator can still decide registrability in a cancellation proceeding under section 1313(c).