Abstract

The essay focuses on Fashion law by describing the many examples of counterfeiting, copy, knockoffs and the threats to creativity in order to compare the protection provided in Italy (in accordance with European choices), through the different and sometimes overlapping disciplines such as trademark law, patent law, copyright law and design law, with the protection offered in the US where no design laws have been enacted. There is a marked difference between the two protection signatures in Europe depending on whether it is a registered design or an unregistered design. Therefore, if in Europe the attention is placed on the difference of the two forms of protection depending on whether or not it is a registered design, in the US the protection is obtained thanks to the advanced identity of the trademark and the possible physical and conceptual separation of the creative aspect from the functional one, which is an ambitious condition to take advantage of copyright protection. Due to the difficulty of using the latter criterion, which is uncertain and unclear, the aim is lastly to detect the alternative protections and consider the crucial role of social media, that represents the new battlefields for the protection of these rights since the fast cycle of fashion requires an extremely rapid response for the protection to be effective; thus, it is important to count on a global system that affects complex digital platforms and therefore allows us to overcome the problem of territory without underestimating the important role played by the Antitrust Authorities