The fashion business in the United States generates more than $300 billion in revenue annually. In addition to its significant aid to the American economy, fashion reflects itself as an art form. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York organizes numerous exhibitions highlighting fashion projects. Among the most notable are those glorifying Coco Chanel, whose iconic designs transformed the way women wore dresses and increased admiration for pants throughout the 1920s; Alexander McQueen, whose projects were known for conveying a sense of imagination and revolt towards fashion; and Charles James, who used sculptural, systematic and precise approaches to create iconic ballgowns, and whose revolutionary tailoring continues to influence designers today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayThe issue of federal regulation to protect industrial designs is now a long-standing one in the United States. Congress has raised its voice on the issue several times since 1914. Design protection bills were accepted by the House of Representatives in the 71st Congress and by the Senate in the 87th, 88th, and 89th Congresses. From the 91st to the 94th Congress, design protection was associated with the General Copyright Amendment Bill, then undecided in the Senate. The form of the amended copyright bill accepted by the Senate in 1975 included a separate title on the protection of designs. The House subcommittee, however, decided that design protection should be considered separately from copyright modification. The amended copyright bill was ratified without a design protection element in October 1976 and came into force on January 1, 1978. The design protection bills were announced separately in each Congress from the 96th to the 102nd. Comprehensive hearings were held by the Subcommittee in 1990 and 1992. No additional legislation has been passed in Congress on the general issue of design protection since the 1992 hearing. However, the 105th Congress has Considered and ratified more limited design protection legislation in 1998 under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Title V of the DMCA, the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act (“VHDPA”), presented a sui generis defense to the ship hull design. This legislation, organized in Chapter 13 of Title 17, was based primarily on previous legislation, but strengthened the purpose of protecting designs of articles useful generally for ship hull designs. Design PatentsTwo types of patents are available under the US patent. Act: utility patents and design patents. Designers can access protection for their fashion creations by filing a design patent application. Design patents defend the appearance of a project or decoration, provided that it is unique, non-functional and not obvious to a designer normally competent in that field. When applying for a design patent, the designer must claim certain characteristics of the project which must be secured; therefore, the patent relates to the basic design concept and not to the exact product sold by the designer. Clothing designs are generally considered unpatentable because they are considered useful. Even more so, clothing designs are considered obvious and not unique. Although the defined characteristics of a model.