Guidelines for the brief explanation regarding Chinese design applications
The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China published on September 30, 2009 a series of documents describing provisional measures and providing guidelines on the enforcement of the law, in order to clarify the application of the revised industrial property law.
Regarding design applications, the submission of a brief explanation regarding the design (for which the SIPO published specific guidelines) will be necessary for the application to be accepted by the SIPO.
Guidelines for the brief explanation regarding Chinese design applications
A. A brief explanation of the design must be submitted when filing a design application (two copies per application).
B. The scope of the design right will be determined based on the design of the product shown on drawings or photographs. The brief explanation may be used to interpret the design of the product shown on the drawings or photographs.
C. The brief explanation must contain the following information:
1. Name of the product related to the design
The name indicated in the brief explanation must match the name indicated on the application documents.
2. Intended use of the product related to the design
The brief explanation must state clearly the classification of the product by describing its intended use. In the case of a product having several intended uses, all intended uses must be described.
3. Relevant part of the layout of the design
In the product, the relevant part of the layout is the shape, the pattern, the combination of shape and pattern, the combination of color, shape and pattern, or the part which differs from conventional designs. The explanation of the relevant part of the layout must be concise, clear and focused.
4. The drawing or photograph illustrating best the relevant part of the layout must be specified
The specified drawing or photograph will be used in the official design publication.
D. The following points must also be included in the brief explanation when necessary:
1. The protection of a colored design has been requested, or the drawings are omitted.
The fact that the protection of a colored design has been requested must be stated in the brief explanation.
Usually, when drawings are omitted from a design application, the applicant must state the concrete reason for the omission (such as the drawings being symmetrical or identical). If stating such reason is difficult, it is sufficient to explain what drawings have been omitted. For example, in the case that the bottom view of a large-sized machine is missing, it is sufficient to state that the bottom view has been omitted.
2. A base design must be designated in the brief explanation in the case that several similar designs for an identical product have been filed as part of a single design application.
3. In the case of a flat product such as fabric or wallpaper, it is necessary to state in the brief explanation that the individual patterns are placed successively in one or four directions, and that no boundary can be defined.
4. In the case of a long and narrow product, the fact that the drawings have been omitted as appropriate due to the length of the product must be stated.
5. The use by the design of a transparent material or of a new material having particular visual properties must be stated in the brief explanation.
6. In the case of a product included in a combination, the name of each of the products included in the combination must be provided.
The brief explanation shall not contain words related to sales and advertisement, and shall not describe the product’s functions or its internal structure.
OSAKA
