The person in whom the property right vests is considered the owner of the design.
17 U.S.C.§ 1320(a).
1308.1
Allowable Transfers, Grants, Conveyances, and Mortgages
The rights in a protectable design may be assigned, granted, conveyed, or mortgaged by the owner to another person or entity. Such an assignment, grant, conveyance or mortgage must be in a writing that is signed by the owner, or it may be bequeathed by will. 17 U.S.C.§ 1320(b).
1308.2 Discretionary Recordation of Transfers
Although recordation of transfers is not a condition for protection, the first transfer of ownership shall be void against a subsequent purchaser or mortgagee who obtained the transfer for valuable consideration, unless the first transfer is recorded with the U.S. Copyright Office within three months after it is executed or before the date of a subsequent purchase or mortgage. 17 U.S.C. § 1320(d).
The same conditions and procedures for recording transfers of copyright ownership and other documents pertaining to copyright apply to the recordation of documents pertaining to vessel design protection under Chapter 13. For more information on how to record such documents, see Chapter 2300, Section 2309.
1309 Vessel Design Notice
1309.1 Notice Is Mandatory
Notice on a vessel design is mandatory. Once a design has been made public, a "notice" of design protection must be placed on all vessels that embody the design. 17 U.S.C. § 1306(a). The design notice must be affixed to a location on the vessel in a manner that provides "reasonable notice," as described below in Section 1309.4, that the vessel contains a protected design. 17 U.S.C. § 1306(b).
• The words "Protected Design", the abbreviation "Prot'd Des.", the symbol © [i.e., the letter "D" in a circle), or the symbol "*D*";
• The year in which protection for the design commenced; and
• The name of the owner, an abbreviation by which the owner can be recognized, or a generally accepted alternative designation of the owner.
For registered designs, the registration number may be used in place of both (i) the year in which protection for the design commenced, and (ii) the name of the owner or a
1309.2
Required Notice Elements
The elements of a design notice must consist of the following:
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