Household Appliances Ltd and the HOTTA kettle
One product, several rights: mapping each feature of a new kettle to the right form of IP protection.
- Sector
- Consumer goods
- Source
- Week 11 tutorial case study
The case in brief
Household Appliances Ltd, a leading manufacturer of consumer goods, is about to launch a new kettle called the HOTTA. The kettle has an unusual shape. It heats water more efficiently and is safer to use because it stays cool to the touch after boiling.
Both advantages come from its construction: instead of a single wall, the kettle has a double wall, with the gap between the two layers of metal filled with a special gas. Safety legislation obliges the company to supply a detailed instruction leaflet because of the gas’s special properties.
The gas is only available from certain specialist suppliers, and the company is worried that competitors might find out who those suppliers are.
Key facts
- Company
- Household Appliances Ltd (tutorial scenario)
- Product
- HOTTA kettle with an unusual shape
- Innovation
- Double wall filled with a special gas: more efficient heating and cool to the touch
- Legal obligation
- Detailed safety instruction leaflet required
- Sensitive information
- Identity of the specialist gas suppliers
Analysis through module theory
Trade mark (Trade Marks Act 1994)
The company name “Household Appliances Ltd” can be protected as a trade mark because it identifies the company’s goods and distinguishes them from others. The product name “HOTTA” also has a better chance as a trade mark, for example as the name of a particular model, provided it meets the trade mark definition and registration requirements.
Copyright and the Exxon case
Students may argue that “HOTTA” gets copyright too, but this is hard to sustain. In Exxon Corp v Exxon Insurance Consultants International Ltd (Chancery Division, 1981) the court observed that granting copyright to titles or short phrases could lead to monopolising the basic building blocks of language.
Registered design (Registered Designs Act 1949)
The kettle’s unusual shape is its external appearance and can be protected as a registered design.
Patent (Patents Act 1977)
The double-wall, gas-filled mechanism performs a function, making the kettle more efficient and safer, so it is patent territory. Copyright protects expression, trade marks show commercial origin and designs protect external appearance; none of them protects how something works. The special properties of the gas could also be protected by a patent for the same functional reason.
Copyright in the leaflet (CDPA 1988)
Whether the instruction leaflet is protected depends on how the safety message is expressed. If it only states facts about the gas and the consequences of unsafe use, it gets no protection, because facts stay in the public domain.
Trade secret
The list of specialist gas suppliers can be protected as a trade secret, like Coca-Cola’s recipe, by keeping it confidential.
Discussion questions
- 1.Which feature of the HOTTA is best protected by a patent, and why not by a design right?
- 2.Why is the name “HOTTA” better protected as a trade mark than by copyright?
- 3.What would make the instruction leaflet eligible for copyright protection?
- 4.If Household Appliances Ltd began selling the HOTTA abroad, which of these rights would it need to secure again in the new market?
Takeaways
- A single product usually needs a bundle of rights; analyse it feature by feature.
- Match function to patents, appearance to designs, signs to trade marks, expression to copyright and confidential information to trade secrets.
- Names, titles and facts are not protected by copyright.