# Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Section 233: Innocent infringement.


(1) Where in an action for infringement of design right brought by virtue of section 226 (primary infringement) it is shown that at the time of the infringement the defendant did not know, and had no reason to believe, that design right subsisted in the design to which the action relates, the plaintiff is not entitled to damages against him, but without prejudice to any other remedy.
(2) Where in an action for infringement of design right brought by virtue of section 227 (secondary infringement) a defendant shows that the infringing article was innocently acquired by him or a predecessor in title of his, the only remedy available against him in respect of the infringement is damages not exceeding a reasonable royalty in respect of the act complained of.
(3) In subsection (2) “innocently acquired” means that the person acquiring the article did not know and had no reason to believe that it was an infringing article.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/233 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/copyright-designs-and-patents-act-1988/section-233
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.