News: Thomas Heatherwick has denied any knowledge of a design presented to the London Olympic committee in 2007 by an American firm, which bears a strong resemblance to his cauldron used at the climax of last summer's Olympic opening ceremony. More about Thomas Heatherwick rejects claims that Olympic cauldron is a copy as "spurious nonsense"
News: the fictional bridges depicted on Euro banknotes have been been transformed into reality at a new housing development near Rotterdam. More about Fictional bridges on Euro banknotes constructed in the Netherlands
News: the deliberate copying of a design is set to become a criminal offence in the UK, in line with the law on breaching copyright and trademarks. More about UK to criminalise deliberate copying of design
A bill to extend copyright protection on industrial design from 25 years to the length of the author's life plus 70 years has today become law in the UK. More about UK design copyright bill comes into force
Dezeen and MINI World Tour: in this movie filmed in Milan earlier this month, leading designers and manufacturers discuss the phenomenon of copying and how they are responding. "It’s become an increasingly big problem for us," says Tom Dixon. "People can steal ideas and produce them almost faster than we can now." More about “Milan is a breeding ground for people who copy our products”
Opinion: in his latest Opinion column, Sam Jacob argues that the UK government's plans to extend the copyright term for design "protect existing interests instead of promoting innovation". More about "Extending copyright for design condemns us to mid-century modernism"
News: a nominee for the Design Museum's Design of the Year award has caused controversy by presenting 3D-printed copies of two of the other finalists' work. More about Design award contender exhibits copies of rivals' objects
News: Dutch design collective Droog will turn the notion of piracy in China on its head by unveiling its own copies of Chinese objects in a Guangzhou shopping centre next week. More about Droog copies China
News: American brand Emeco has reached a settlement in its legal dispute with Restoration Hardware after claiming the fellow US company's Naval Chair (below) is a rip-off of its classic Navy Chair (above). More about Emeco settles dispute over Navy Chair copy
News: a building designed by Zaha Hadid for Beijing has been copied by a developer in Chongqing, with the two projects racing to be completed first. More about Zaha Hadid building pirated in China
News: Apple has agreed to pay Swiss railway operator SBB an undisclosed amount for copying its trademark station clock design (above) in the new iPad, reports Bloomberg. More about Apple pays up for using Swiss rail operator's clock design – Bloomberg
London Design Festival: "Legal systems don't really defend designers at all" when it comes to copying, British designer Tom Dixon told Dezeen today at the Global Design Forum, a day of talks from leading figures in the design world as part of the London Design Festival (+audio). More about "Legal systems don't really defend designers at all" - Tom Dixon
FAT director Sam Jacob explains why he believes that "copying is both fundamental to how architecture develops and something that threatens its foundational belief in originality," in this movie we filmed at the Venice Architecture Biennale, where the firm has created an installation called The Museum of Copying. More about "Copying is both fundamental and dangerous to architecture" - Sam Jacob of FAT
London studio FAT will create an exhibition dedicated to architectural copying inside a 5-metre-high model of Palladio's Villa Rotunda for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012 next week. More about The Museum of Copying by FAT at Venice Architecture Biennale 2012
Dezeen Wire: Spanish lighting brand Santa & Cole has launched a lawsuit accusing the state of Qatar of copying street lighting devised for Barcelona by Catalan designer Beth Galí in 1996. More about Qatar accused of "counterfeiting 1000 street lamps"
Dezeen Wire: The Guardian reports on a campaign to persuade high-street retailers to respect the intellectual property of independent designers following the case of English pattern designer Rachael Taylor, who last week spoke out after finding a product almost identical to her own on sale at Marks & Spencer (above and below; Taylor's designs are on the right in both photos). More about "Retailers urged to support design copyright campaign" - The Guardian
Dezeen Wire: the UK government has announced changes in the law that will extend copyright protection of 'artistic' manufactured goods from just 25 years to the life of the creator plus 70 years, giving design the same term of protection as literature and art. More about UK copyright law changed to protect design classics
Dezeen Wire: homes and interiors publication Elle Decoration UK has announced a campaign aimed at challenging intellectual property rights in Britain, where designers are currently afforded less protection from copying than those from other creative disciplines. More about Elle Decoration launches campaign toprotect the rights of UK designers
Dezeen Wire: the U.N. World Intellectual Property Agency has reported a rise in the amount paid as royalties and licensing fees from $2.8 billion to $180 billion in the last 40 years, representing a 60-fold increase – The Washington Post
The report shows that high income countries such as France, Germany, Japan, Britain and the United States continue to lead the way in research and development but that China's share in the global market has risen from 2.2 percent in 1993 to 12.8 per cent in 2009.
Last week we reported on measures being taken by the UK government to improve intellectual property laws, designer James Dyson also raised the issue when he accused a Chinese manufacturer of copying one of his brand's vacuum designs and Elle Decoration editor Michelle Ogundehin has criticised companies who reproduce classic products.
More about $180 billion spent on royalty fees annually - Washington Post
Dezeen Wire: UK industry body Anti Copying in Design (ACID) is calling on designers to share their experiences of intellectual property infringement to help support its submission to the government's review of design law. More about ACID seeks evidence of copying in design