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18 I Why Ireland? A guide to doing business in Ireland I ByrneWallaceManufacturers are allowed a 12 monthgrace period within which they canmake a design available to the publicwithout destroying its ‘novelty’ andthereby the prospects of registeringit at a subsequent date. This allowsdesigners to test the success of productson the market before embarking on theregistration process. When a design isregistered, protection is granted initiallyfor 5 years. Protection can then berenewed for four further periods of fiveyears each (on payment of the prescribedfee), giving a maximum of 25 years’protection from the date of registration.The Community unregistered design rightregime came into effect in Ireland on 6March 2002. This unregistered right issimilar to copyright in that no registrationrequirement must be satisfied and theright comes into existence automatically.The Community unregistered design rightlasts for 3 years from the date on whichthe design is first made available to thepublic within the EU.which protection is sought. Ireland is asignatory to the Berne Convention for theProtection of Literary and Artistic Workswhich requires its signatories to recognisethe copyright of works of authors fromother signatory countries (known asmembers of the Berne Union) in the sameway as it recognises the copyright of itsown nationals.Database RightsCopyright subsists in original databasesand the period of protection lasts until70 years after the death of the author.The Copyright and Related Rights Act,2000, introduced a new form of copyrightprotection available where there hasbeen a substantial investment made inobtaining, verifying or presenting thecontents of a database. This databaseright expires 15 years from the end ofthe calendar year in which the making ofthe database was completed. However,a database which is continually updatedcould have the benefit of protectionunder this new database right indefinitely.decision, it is advantageous to enter thecase in the Commercial Court list. Theefficiency of disposal of cases and thequality of judgments of our CommercialCourt have been recognised internationally.The threshold of €1 million that acase must normally meet in order to beeligible for the Commercial Court doesnot apply to cases involving IP rights,meaning that the court has jurisdictionover the majority of IP disputes.The EU-wide directive on enforcement ofintellectual property rights wasimplemented in Ireland in 2006, andcomplements the comprehensive rangeof enforcement tools and reliefs availableto those seeking to enforce their IP rightsthat were previously generally availableunder Irish law.CopyrightThe Irish Copyright and Related RightsAct, 2000, is recognised as one of themost sophisticated pieces of legislationin this field in Europe. Copyrightprotects original literary, dramatic,musical and artistic works, as well asfilm, sound recordings, broadcastsand the typographical arrangement ofpublished editions, moral rights in suchwork, computer software and originaldatabases, and performances andperformer’s rights.There is no system of registration forcopyright protection in Ireland and thisform of protection arises automatically onthe creation of an original work, providedthat it has resulted from the creator’s skilland effort and is not simply copied fromanother work.In most cases, copyright lasts for thecreator’s lifetime plus 70 years, althoughthe duration of protection doesdepend on the nature of the work forEXPLOITATION OF INTELLECTUALPROPERTY RIGHTSFrom a legal perspective, owners of IPrights are generally free to exploit theserights under the principle of freedom tocontract, although Irish and EuropeanCommunity competition law will berelevant in certain circumstances.ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUALPROPERTY RIGHTSOne of the most attractive features ofIreland’s IP regime is the dispute resolutionmechanism available to owners ofintellectual property rights who wish toenforce those rights. The Irish High Courthas a dedicated forum, the CommercialCourt, for resolving commercial disputes,including IP disputes. The CommercialCourt was established in 2004 and is oneof the most innovative developmentsin the Irish IP legal landscape in recenttimes. This Court provides a condensedprocedure for enforcement of IP rights.For parties wishing to expedite mattersand obtain an early and informed