Marianne Dahlén

Faculty of Law
Uppsala University

Marianne Dahlén is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Uppsala University, Sweden. She teaches comparative legal history and conducts research within two strands, the history of international child labour law and intellectual property law and fashion in comparative and historical perspective. Presently she works with two projects, Two Old for School and Too Young for Work, and Copies, Competition and the Conditions of Creativity. This paper is based on two articles published in Business History 2012 and 2014: ”Copy or copyright fashion? Swedish design protection law in historical and comparative perspective”, Business History Vol. 4:1, and with Mats Larsson: “Business History and Legal History”, Business History 56:1, 54-70.

Abstract

To protect or not protect? That was the question. Swedish intellectual property law and fashion in a historical and comparative perspective

Traditionally, design protection has not covered fashion designs for clothing in national law. France is the exception, with a long history of legal protection of fashion, developed to meet the needs of French fashion industry. In the U.S. on the other hand, there is practically no protection at all for fashion design, a state of affairs that is presently much debated. Sweden represents a middle way: a design protection law covering fashion design was introduced in 1970. In contrast, branding has a critical role in fashion. Trademark law, with historical roots in the Industrial Revolution, offers strong protection. The distinction between design and trademark is fruitful for understanding intellectual property and the conditions of the textile and fashion industry in the three countries, when linked to the theoretical distinction between ‘fashion’ and ‘clothing’ (Kawamura). The legal discourses are linked to the different logics of the fashion business and the textile industry: ‘clothing’ is a material product, ‘fashion’ is a symbolic and immaterial product. A hundred years ago Sweden was a low cost country, depending on its textile industry. A study of the Swedish legislative debates 1916-1970 shows that the law is clearly connected to the context of production. A comparison with France and the U.S. points at a similar relation between the legal development and national industrial considerations.