• Ford is claiming that proposals for changes to copyright,
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and other intellectual property rights, will fail to give protection over a sufficient period to recover initial investment in design, development and tooling.
In the automotive industry the present position is clouded by the outcome of two legal actions which Ford has taken out against some companies which it considers to be infringing copyright on body panels. Similar litigation is also tak ing place between BL and Armstrong.
Following pressure from Government, last month Ford's chairman Derek Barron signed an undertaking to reduce the company's exclusive production period on body parts from 15 to seven years, and to allow licences of right at a royalty of 2% for a further eight years.
The House of Lords decision on the BL versus Armstrong has in effect removed copyright protec
tion on parts.
Under White Paper proposals, styled parts (such as bonnets and wings) will be protected under a new "Unregistered Design Right" (UDR) operating for a ten-year period with licences of right after five years.
Not only is this a reduction below the 15 years offered by copyright, but it is also significantly less than provided throughout the rest of Europe, according to Ford.