Design Industry Hints

[Design] To those in the office supplies industry

(1) Introduction

There is such a wide variety of office supplies sold every year that the "Stationery, Paper Products, and Office Equipment Yearbook" is published.

Many business owners are probably already aware that if they create a new invention or design for office supplies, it can be protected by a patent or utility model right.

So what if these new office supplies are not only technologically novel but also have excellent design? By obtaining a design registration that meets certain requirements, such as being a novel design and being visually aesthetic, you will be able to monopolize and exclusively exploit the design, just like a patent right.

”HARAKENZO more " has created this page to support those in the office supplies industry, who develop and produce a large number of products every year, and to let them know about the "know-how" of design registrations that are unique to the industry.

(2) Design of office supplies

A design is the shape, pattern, or color of an article, or a combination of these, that creates a visual aesthetic appeal.

At this point, you may be wondering, "Aesthetic sense in office supplies?" However, unlike works of art, they do not require lofty beauty; it is enough if they evoke some kind of aesthetic sense.

For example, office supplies such as storage shelves as shown below can also be registered as designs.

Group D (Housing Equipment)
(Gifu Plastics Industry Co., Ltd., Registered Design No. 1233625)

(3) Regarding partial designs

In addition to being able to obtain a design registration for the design of an entire item, such as the storage shelf mentioned above, it is also possible to obtain a design registration for only a portion of an item.

Taking the diagram below as an example, if you wish to exclusively exploit the design of the cabinet enclosure depicted in solid lines, you can register a partial design with the article to which the design pertains as the "cabinet."

For example, if another company incorporates the design of the enclosed part drawn with solid lines in the figure below into the cabinets it manufactures, but the cabinet as a whole is dissimilar to the design of the cabinet in the figure below, if you have a partial design registration for the enclosed part, you can prevent such imitations by other companies.

By utilizing the partial design system, it is possible to effectively protect the design of only the original and distinctive parts of office supplies.

Group D (Housing Equipment)
(Okamura Corporation, Registered Design No. 1466835)

(4) Related designs

If you wish to register variations of a design that are derived from a single design concept, you can use the related designs system.

For example, if you have applied for or received a registration for a ballpoint pen design and later wish to apply for a variation design, you can apply for the design that you applied for earlier as the principal design and the design that you applied for later as a related design.

Since the design rights for the main design and related designs have the same effect, each design can be exclusively exploited.

Group F (office supplies and sales items)
Left (Pilot Corporation, Registered Design No. 1428229)
Right (Pilot Corporation, Registered Design No. 1428487)

[Point]
Under the revised Design Act that came into effect on April 2020, 4, it is now possible to file an application for a related design of a basic design and a design similar to the related design within 1 years from the application date of the basic design. For more information about the revised related design system, please see here.Please confirm.
*The design first selected as the principal design is called the “basic design” (Article 10, Paragraph 7 of the Design Act).

(5) Design of set

Two or more articles, buildings or images used simultaneously, as specified by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, are called "sets." When the designs of the articles, buildings or images that make up a set are unified as a whole set, they can be applied for and registered as a single design.

For example, a fountain pen and a ballpoint pen are articles that make up a set of writing implements. As shown in the figure below, if the clips of a fountain pen and a ballpoint pen are represented with a similar shape and the set as a whole is deemed to be unified, the fountain pen and the ballpoint pen can be applied for as a set with a unique design and can be registered as a design.

This allows you to properly protect rights for system designs and set designs.

[Fountain pen design] [Ballpoint pen design] → "A set of writing implements"

Group F (office supplies and sales items)
(Inox Crem S.A., Registered Design No. 1273721)

(XNUMX)”HARAKENZO more " Supports the stationery industry

In the office supplies industry, in addition to the functionality of the office supplies, office supplies with excellent design can be expected to increase motivation and improve work efficiency. On the other hand, if the design is not properly protected by intellectual property, pirated copies of the design may easily be distributed, and the effort spent on design development may go to waste.

Therefore, you may find yourself in a situation where you have no choice but to be aware of intellectual property rights issues. more " is prepared to do its utmost to protect the intellectual property of those in the stationery industry. Please feel free to contact us for further information.

Related article

TOP