The whole law case, final results, in a simple nut shell explination
1] Mr Ainsworth, and his small company Sheperton Studio props won the case against lucas film just before this christmas in a UK court, because of an EU juricdiction issue, explained in part 6] below.
2] The trooper suit was never patented, neither in the UK or US, it only has existing design rights, and rights as art in the US. If it was patented lucas would have won imideately, cause the patent office is world wide.
3] Lucasfilm lost because there accusation that the orignal pattern masters were defined as sculptural art from its orginal sculpture. The UK court threw this idea out of court becasue UK law defines a piece of art as something that is created specifically with a sole or main purpose of apeasing the eye. Not something that has a main untilatarian purpose of defining a who the bad guys are in a motion picture. Because this was thrown out, the design rights of the trooper suit and specifcally the helmit, was reduced in UK law as industrial design, not a piece of sculptural art.
4] So lucasfilm tryed the design rights being breached to get Mr Ainsworth, and failed because in UK law, industrial design, which the trooper suit was now defined under in this case, only has a life span of 15 years, which is "unrenuable" after it expires. And lucasfilm registered the design right in 1976, and Ainsworth started publicly producing trooper suits in the late 90's. Do the math, and design rights have expired.
5] Aisnworth stated the interlectual pattern rights were his. In The UK, when any film company, or any company, or even an indavidual person, hires an artist to product a product, if that company or person does not produce a legally binding contract on rights of any kind, then the interlectual pattern rights belong to te artist, regardless wether it is or is not defined by law as art. The film company may retain certain design rights, if the design it self for the product wasnt designed by the artist. [IN UK LAW] Unfortunately for Lucasfilm, they couldnt prove any legal contract, cause none actually existed. Leaving only the design rights registered and held in the United States.
6] Lucas lost on that ground of international copyright over seas breech, when he wanted the case brought back the US, to be trialed in a US supreme court after loosing the design rights in the UK. But unfortunately, the United States Of America, is not a memeber state of the EU. When any law of another country out side memeber states of the EU is breeched in side an EU memebr state like the United Kingdom but without breaking any UK laws on the same issue, the juridiction of judgement lays in the hands of the courts of England and wales. And no EU special unique law is gonna be written for Lucasfilm sake.
This is why, even though lucasfilm won the original United States Court hearing, it could not be brought to trial because of this Juridiction issue, and refused to award Lucasfilm the 20mill for the breech, also US court judges were in two minds over the issue of the trooper pattern being defined as sculptural art.
As for Mr Ainsworth, hes happly making trooper suits legally at his company shepperton Props. His only legal failier, is that he is no longer alowed to sell the US. As you will see with the link to his online shop.
http://www.sdsprops.com/prodotti.html
The final court case findings on pdf can be downloaded from here
http://www.originalprop.com/blog/tag...esign-studios/
Case dissmissed.... lol
Jonathan