Here we introduce an example of a decision in which an image design was found to be creatively impossible.
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Case in which it was found that the positional relationship was difficult to create (Appeal No. 2023-6747)
Design Registration No. 1769667 (Application 2021-20930) "GUI"
Present Design
Cited Design 1
Cited Design 2
Judgment of the panel (excerpt)
(Omitted) Images in which the shape of the part corresponding to the cross key is similar to that of the image in this application were widely known prior to the filing of this application, as can be seen in Design 2.
However, an image in which the R button section and the L button section are arranged on the left and right below the entire vertically long image, and a roughly cross-shaped button section is arranged at the upper left of the L button section, as in the image portion of the present application, cannot be said to have been easily conceived from the aspects of the images of Designs 1 and 2. In the image of the present application, the R button section and the L button section, which are virtual operation targets within the image, are arranged on the left and right below the entire image, whereas in a normal physical game controller, the R button section and the L button section are generally located at the top where the index finger touches, so this creation should be said to be extremely unique.
Comment
Although the individual shapes of the solid line parts themselves are commonplace, the ease of conception of the arrangement of each solid line part (button) was denied after taking into consideration the function of the solid line part (however, L and R are represented by broken lines, and there is no description of the function of each button in the description of the article to which the design relates).In addition, it is important to note that physical objects are also prior materials when it comes to the ease of conception of an image design.
A case in which the non-creativity of a design was recognized, including changes in its form (Appeal No. 2023-5796)
Design Registration No. 1753570 (Application 2021-18210) "Image for displaying card information"
Design of the present application (image)
(Image showing the change)
(Image showing the names of each part)
Cited Design 1
Cited Design 2
Cited Design 3
Judgment of the panel (excerpt)
Depending on the user's operation, the "information display area" containing information such as credit card usage and the "gauge" showing the available credit card balance will be switched. Also, as shown in the "image showing the change", the "information display area" moves from right to left.
In designs including images, images having a rectangular information display area with rounded corners were widely known before the filing of the present application, as seen in Designs 1 and 3, and the arrangement of a thin horizontal band-shaped gauge below a rectangular area was also widely known before the filing of the present application, as seen in Designs 2 and 3. However, the arrangement of a thin horizontal band-shaped gauge below the "information display area A" as in the image portion of the present application was not widely known before the filing of the present application.*An image in which the ratio of the length from the left end of the "gauge" to the left end of the "gauge," the width of the "gauge," and the length from the right end of the "gauge" to the right end of the "information display area A" is approximately 2:4:1 cannot be said to have been easily conceived from the images of Design 2 and Design 3.
The "information display area" of the image portion of the present application moves from right to left, but it is unclear whether the information display area of Design 1 moves from right to left or not. Even if it does move, the image after the movement is not necessarily the same as the aspect of the image portion of the present application shown in the "image drawing showing the changed state" recognized in 1(5)B above.
Therefore, it cannot be said that a person skilled in the art could have easily created the design in question based on the design cited in the reasons for refusal in this appeal.
(*"Information display area" in "Reference diagram showing the names of each part")
Comment
Although the individual shapes of the solid line parts and the positional relationship between the display area and the gauge are common, the specific position of the gauge relative to the display area was identified in detail and the design was denied as being easily conceivable. Furthermore, the design was denied as being easy to create because the changed form was not shown in the cited design. Although the scope of rights is thought to be narrow for the gauge part, it is worth filing an application even for a collection of designs that at first glance do not seem to be easy to create. In addition, even if the possibility of registration is low based on the image drawing alone, if the changing form is found to have novelty and originality, it should be actively filed as a changing image.