table of contents
Introduction
With the revision of the Design Law in 3, designs consisting only of images such as GUIs and icons are now protected under the Design Law. Since then, the number of applications for image designs (Japan Design Classification N4_Image Design) including GUIs and icons has increased rapidly, and the proportion of annual applications by classification is second only to "wrapping paper, packaging containers, etc. (F2)," indicating the high level of attention it is receiving.1
These applications span not only the IT industry but also a wide range of industries, including the automotive, construction, and medical industries, which is thought to reflect the importance of GUI design and growing awareness of design management.
Japan Patent Office Statistics on Applications, etc. (2023 Edition) July 2023, 7 28. Classification Statistics Table (5) Designs (Applications)
1Japan Patent Office: Statistics on Applications, etc. (2023 Edition) July 2023, 7
Benefits of acquiring a design patent
In addition to the inherent benefit of utilizing a design right, the acquisition of a design right is expected to motivate the creator by registering the design they created, leading to the pursuit of greater convenience. This will in turn improve the quality of products that use GUI, and increase brand power and corporate value.
In addition, when it comes to design rights for icons, creators may think that "it's a common icon" or "it's not original," but considering the current situation in which a wide variety of icons are registered as designs, it is important to apply for patents at least for icons and GUIs that are commonly used in each product in order to ensure safe implementation and to check that they are not infringing on the rights of other companies.
Influencing the development department
However, there is still little awareness among system development departments and other GUI development departments that GUIs and icons are subject to protection under the Design Law, and it seems that there are quite a few cases where images created are left unprotected and buried. In such cases, you are forced to accept that other companies may use similar GUIs, and your investment in design development cannot be fully recovered.
In addition, in a situation where the number of registered image designs, including GUIs, is rapidly increasing, there are cases where many design rights have been established for images with specific functions and applications, and if you are not careful, you may end up infringing on the rights of other companies. In that case, you cannot get away with saying you were unaware of the existence of the design right, and you may suffer significant losses in the form of liability for damages, injunctions, design changes, etc.
In order to avoid these risks, it is essential to have the intellectual property department conduct awareness-raising activities and hold in-house study sessions to ensure that the development department is aware that image designs are subject to protection under the Design Act and the importance of design protection, and to create a system in which information is shared with the intellectual property department without delay when a new image design is developed.
Recent GUI/icon registration examples
As shown below, the number of registrations of simple GUIs and icons is increasing. The scope of these rights is determined based on the similarity of the use and function of the image itself, so it is expected that there will be cases where images (GUIs, etc.) are similar across industries.
Medical information display image (Design Registration No. 1741373)
FUJIFILM Corporation, FUJIFILM Medical Solutions Co., Ltd.
[Image]
[Reference image]
Application startup display image (Design Registration No. 1746169)
Google LLC
[Image]
[Image showing the change]
[Image 2 showing the change]
[Image showing the change (Figure 3)]
[Image showing the change (Figure 4)]
Icon image (Design Registration No. 1761055)
Toshiba Tech Co., Ltd.
[Image]
[References] Depositphotos, Inc., has posted on its website (Japan Patent Office Design Division Public Information No. RJ04151991)
Icon GUI (Design Registration No. 1753148)
Altria Client Services Limited Liability Company
【references】
United States Patent and Trademark Publication, (2013-1-15), D674405, (Patent Office Design Division Public Notice No. HH25301654)
Design Search
As mentioned above, in a situation where many image designs have already been registered regardless of the industry, even if you accidentally create and implement a design that is similar to another company's design, it will be considered a design infringement (because reliance is not required for design infringement). In order to prevent such unforeseen circumstances, design searches are important.
The Japan Patent Office and INPIT (Independent Administrative Institution National Center for Industrial Property Information and Training) provide an "Image Design Gazette Search Support Tool," which makes it easy to conduct image searches for designs from the following screen.
Screenshot of the Image Design Gazette Search Support Tool
Source: Japan Patent Office and INPIT (https://www.graphic-image.inpit.go.jp/）
However, it should be noted that the above tools display designs that are close to the target image through a mechanical comparison, and do not necessarily display similar designs at the top.
Our firm offers infringement prevention searches for image designs. Unlike the above tools, in this search, prior designs that patent attorneys judge to be potentially "similar" are extracted and the degree of similarity is evaluated. By utilizing this type of search in combination, we believe that it is possible to prevent infringement and check the trends of other companies, while promoting the creation of highly convenient GUIs that pursue originality.
Finally
It may be a big hurdle to get your GUI design developers to recognize the importance of intellectual property. In such a case, please take advantage of our seminars. If you leave it to us, we can help you deepen your understanding of intellectual property by explaining the image design system and registration examples in an easy-to-understand manner at our image design seminars for design developers.
If you are interested, please contact us using the inquiry form below.