This is not, however, the first time: the magistrates' courts also had jurisdiction over registered design piracy between 1842 and 1883, and many of the concerns recently raised during passage of the Intellectual Property Act were played out before them.

 

This article examines some of the cases as reported through the eyes of the Victorian press.

 

Design crime: back to the future or forwards to the past?
David Musker
Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice 2014 9 (12): 976-985doi: 10.1093/jiplp/jpu163