Domestic design system

You can also register things like this!

You can also register things like this!

There are many things that can be registered as designs. Among them, we have collected some designs that will make you wonder, "Even these can be registered as designs!"

・Food (cake, candy, solid curry, sushi, etc.)
・Construction and civil engineering supplies (reinforcing bars, revetment blocks, pillars, prefabricated houses, bathrooms, balconies, mailboxes, etc.)
・Basic products (thread, chains, nails, vinyl tape, etc.)
・Office supplies, printed materials (erasers, thumb tacks, blackboards, books, flyers, tickets, etc.)
Handmade items
・Aggregates of powder or particles
·image
*From April 1, 2020,"Building"as well as the "Interior"The design was also protected.

You may think that design registrations are reserved for works of art, such as clothing and utensils that feature beautiful artistic designs, and that design rights cannot be obtained for practical items, such as food, everyday items, and civil engineering and construction products. In fact, this is not the case.

Certainly, to obtain a design patent, a design must have aesthetic appeal. However, the "aesthetic appeal" referred to here is,A broad sense of beautyIt is not about artistic beauty.

"Pure art," such as paintings that are intended solely as objects of artistic appreciation, and "works of art and crafts," such as vases that are objects of aesthetic appreciation but also have a practical purpose, are protected as works under copyright law, but "applied art," which has a practical purpose and is not protected by copyright, can be protected under design rights.

Food (cake, candy, solid curry, sushi, etc.)

For example, food products can also be registered as designs. You may wonder whether a design can be registered when the color and shape of the product change over time, but this is not a problem when it comes to design registration.

In fact, designs for a wide variety of foods, such as solid curry, sausages, fish paste, sushi, mochi, bread, noodles, and sweets, have been applied for and registered. I would like to introduce a few examples of actual registrations.

ChocolateEdible container for soft serve ice creamWatermelon
Design Registration No. 1484401Design Registration No. 1479520Design Registration No. 1304011
This is a partial design of chocolate.
The part indicated by the solid line is the part for which the design is to be registered. In other words, if the shape of the chocolate heart is the same or similar, the effect of the design right will apply even if the picture of the horse and man on the top is changed to a different picture and sold.
This is a registered design for an edible container for soft serve ice cream made of langue de chat dough rolled into a plastic wrap shape.
In this way, you can apply for just the edible container, or you can apply for "soft ice cream" by combining the edible container and the soft cream portion that is placed on top.
This is a watermelon with an interesting shape. Apparently, it takes on this shape after being grown in a mold for about a month. This type of watermelon can also be registered as a design.
Although each design will be different in shape, minor differences fall within the scope of similarity for registered designs, so this is not a problem.

For more information about food and food packaging designs, please see our website:To everyone in the food industryPlease see the page.

Civil Engineering and Construction Supplies
(Reinforcing bars, bank blocks, pillars, prefabricated houses, bathrooms, balconies, mailboxes, etc.)

The functional beauty of civil engineering and construction products also creates an aesthetic sense, and is a design that can be protected.

In fact, there are designs that have been registered for building materials, metal fittings, temporary construction supplies, and civil engineering supplies. Specifically, various designs such as scaffolding boards, piles, gardening blocks, reinforcing bars, manholes, drainage pipes, tunnel segments, breakwaters, and dam gates have been registered.

In addition, there are registered designs for prefabricated houses, ceilings, handrails, tents, curtain rails, verandas, fences, water tanks, and built-in swimming pools.

StairsA set of gateposts,
Gate and fence set
Prefabricated House

Design Registration No. 1508048Design Registration No. 1559838Design Registration No. 1271033
This is the design for a staircase, but it is also possible to receive a design registration for any part of it, such as the handrail, the support material for the handrail, or a foldable auxiliary staircase.A gatepost, a gate, and a fence are all items that make up a set of gateposts, gates, and fences. If the set is deemed to be unified as a whole, it is possible to apply for a unique design for the set and obtain a design registration.A prefabricated house is constructed by assembling multiple factory-produced building units on the construction site.
This has been patented as an entire design, but if you only want to patent the design around the entrance or the balcony area, you can use the partial design system.

Please note that from April 2, 4,Real estate can also be registered as a design" It has become like this.

Previously, a "design" that was the subject of a design right had to be in the form of an article (a tangible movable property that circulates in the market). However, due to amendments to the law in response to changes in social conditions, the designs of "buildings" and "interiors," which are real estate, are now also eligible for protection.

Going forward, we believe that as brand differentiation becomes more important, we will see an increasing number of applications being registered in this field.

Incidentally, the prefabricated house introduced above as a registered design before the revision of the law is clearly a real estate property. If you search the Japan Patent Office database, J-PlatPat, you will notice that many real estate properties, such as prefabricated houses and condominiums, have already been registered as designs. Why were these properties registered before the revision of the law?

Most real estate is divided into multiple building units or various components manufactured in factories before being assembled at the construction site. Even if it is considered real estate when in use, it can be said that it is subject to trading as movable property before it is settled on the land. Therefore, it is considered that it was treated as movable property.

However, due to the revision of the law, designs that were previously not eligible for design registration, even if they were traded as movable property before being settled on land, because they do not fall under the category of "something that can be mass-produced by repeatedly using industrial technology" (for example, a one-off building designed by a designer), are now eligible for protection if multiple identical objects can be constructed.

Basic products (thread, chain, nails, vinyl tape, etc.)

Designs of basic items used for various purposes can be registered. Even small, practical items can be granted design rights if they have functional beauty.

For example, there are registered designs for woven fabrics, boards, string, wiring and plumbing pipes, pipe fittings, valves, screws, nails, locks, etc.

Tapping Screwshower headhose
Design Registration No. 1425738Design Registration No. 1549591Design Registration No. 1303546

Please note that a design consisting solely of a shape essential to ensuring the functionality of an article cannot be registered.

What this means is that, for example, a reflector for a satellite broadcast receiving antenna, which must have that shape in order to function as a reflector for a parabolic antenna, or an item whose shape, dimensions, and other elements are standardized to ensure interchangeability (including technical functionality), and whose shape must be reproduced exactly according to the standardized shape and dimensions, cannot be registered as a design. These shapes should be protected by the Patent Act and Utility Model Act. Please consider filing a patent or utility model application.

Office supplies, printed matter (erasers, thumb tacks, blackboards, books, flyers, tickets, etc.)

It is also possible to obtain design registrations for office supplies and printed matter. It is surprising that registered designs can be found in such familiar items.

For example, there are a great many registered designs for teaching aids such as globes, calligraphy and painting supplies such as palettes, writing implements and office supplies, business paper products and printed matter such as business cards, gift wrapping paper, postcards and lottery tickets, wrapping paper, packaging containers, advertising tools and displays such as advertising balloons and electronic bulletin boards, mannequins, product display cases, etc. We would like to introduce some of the registered designs for such office supplies and printed matter.

Stickers for vending machines
Photo sticker sheet
Tissue paperA set of writing implements

Design Registration No. 1503743Design Registration No. 1320404Design Registration No. 1273721
This is a partial design of a Purikura. The part shown in solid lines is the part for which we are seeking design registration.
If someone were to run a business selling photo sticker sheets that imitate the frame indicated by the solid lines, it would be possible to seek an injunction or seek damages.
If you look closely, you will see a pattern like the one shown below.
   

With these kinds of ingenuity, it is possible to obtain design rights for very familiar products such as tissue paper.

Two or more items used simultaneously and specified by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry are called a set.
A fountain pen and a ballpoint pen are articles that make up a set of writing implements. In this way, if the clips of the fountain pen and the ballpoint pen are expressed in 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.

For more information on designs for office supplies, please see our website:To those in the office supplies industryPlease see the page.

Handmade items

Even handmade products can receive design registration.

In order to register a design, it must be "capable of industrial application." Previously, "capable of industrial application" meant "capable of mass-producing the same item by repeatedly using industrial technology." Since "industrial application" includes both machine and handicraft industries, even homemade bread or sweets may be eligible for design registration if they are mass-produced.

In addition, with the revision of the examination criteria following the amendment to the law, the definition of the design of an article has been relaxed to "the ability to manufacture multiple identical items." However, works in the field of pure art are still considered to be one-off works (those not manufactured with the intention of mass-producing the same item in repeated production) and therefore cannot obtain design rights.

Even if the product is handmade, it may be possible to obtain a design registration, as multiple identical items can be produced, as shown below.

SushiTakoyakidolls
Design Registration No. 1470460Design Registration No. 1471522Design Registration No. 1393585
This is pressed sushi modeled after Shikoku.
The ingredients, which are tamagoyaki (rolled omelette), shrimp, Spanish mackerel, green peas, conger eel, and sakura denbu (fried fish paste), represent the four prefectures. Incidentally, the ingredients in the sushi rice, which can be seen in part, seem to be burdock, freeze-dried tofu, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and fried tofu.
These takoyaki are made using an octopus-shaped takoyaki maker.
While regular takoyaki are spherical, the takoyaki in this registered design is characterized by "a face with distinct eyes and nose, long, stretched legs, and a headband" (excerpt from the "Description of Design" column of the Design Gazette).
It is a registered design for Hina dolls. It can be incorporated into a hanging decoration, or it can be displayed on its own.
Natural objects that have not been altered by human hands, such as seashells, do not fall under the category of "items that can be used industrially" and cannot be registered. However, when they are altered by human hands and can be mass-produced industrially, they can be registered.

Because they are handmade, each one will be different in shape, but slight differences fall within the scope of similarity of a registered design. Therefore, if another person sells handmade products that are similar to a registered design, even if the shapes are slightly different because they are handmade, the design right will still apply to those products, making it possible to seek an injunction or damages.

Powder or grain aggregate

Powdered or granular materials, such as sugar cubes, can also be registered. As described below, individual powders or grains, or simple aggregates of powders or grains, generally cannot be granted design rights. However, it is possible to obtain design rights for aggregates of powders or grains that have a fixed shape.

In the first place, a "design" that is the subject of a design right must have the shape of an article. The shape of this article must be specific. For example, powdered or granular materials are not recognized as articles because, even if the individual components are solid and have a certain shape, the aggregate does not have a specific shape. However, even if the individual components are powdered or granular, the aggregate has a fixed shape, such as a sugar cube, and is recognized as an article.

Furthermore, to be considered a "design," an item must be recognizable by sight in the normal state in which it is traded, and items that are so minute that their shape cannot be recognized by the naked eye, such as powder or granular items, cannot be registered as designs. However, even if the individual components are powder or granular, if the aggregate has a fixed shape and is visible at the time of trade, or if it is normal to observe the item under magnification at the time of trade, it will be recognized as an item.

The following are examples of aggregates of powder or granular materials with a fixed shape that have actually received design registrations:

Solid sugar
Design Registration No. 1241844
This is a registered design for a solid sugar confectionery.
The part indicated by the solid line is the part to be subject to the design. In other words, if the illustration on the sugar candy is the same or similar, the effect of the design right will apply even if the sugar candy is sold in a round or triangular shape.

Even particles that are invisible to the naked eye, such as sugar grains, may be registered if they are normally observed under magnification during trade.

Sugar grains
Design Registration No. 1555258
This is a registered design for sugar grains.
In the [Description of the Item] section, it is stated that "In normal transactions, the transaction is conducted with the attachment of an enlarged photograph or drawing of the item." There seems to be a gap between the pieces, but it seems difficult to determine how far the design right extends.

image

Did you know that in addition to the previously protected operation screens of cameras, recorders, and screen designs of apps installed on smartphones, the amendment to the law in 2 (effective April 4, 1) now allows design registrations of images themselves, such as GUIs that are not installed on objects, such as images provided from the cloud via the internet?

For example, the following are actually registered:

However, these registration examples were from before the revision of the law and were subject to the following restrictions:

① The image displayed on the display unit of the product is an image recorded on the product (including an image of an update related to the function of the product),
② Images that display the information necessary to fulfill the function of the product, or images that are used for operations to make the product capable of fulfilling its function.

Mobile phoneShip control device
Design Registration No. 1513436Design Registration No. 1490603
This is an example of a pre-recorded image on an item (built-in image on the device).
This item is a mobile phone equipped with a touch panel screen display.
In this case, we have obtained design rights for the images used in the operation to confirm the balance of electronic money, etc. and the number of earned points.
Images that are used for the operation of the product to make it function properly and are displayed on a display device that is used in conjunction with the product are also protected. For example, even if the recording reservation screen of a video recorder is displayed on a television monitor rather than on the video recorder itself, the video recorder screen may be protected under the Design Act.
This item is a marine control device, and the images used to operate it so that it can perform its functions (controlling the propulsion of the ship's screw and steering) are not displayed on the marine control device itself, but on the touch screen of a display device used in conjunction with this item.

However, due to amendments to the Design Act, it is now possible to register only an "operational image" or a "display image" as an image design, without specifying the item or building on which the image is displayed.

As of April 2, there have been no registrations yet due to the review period, but the following are listed as examples of applicable images in the new review criteria.

In addition, mere screen designs (wallpapers, etc.) that are unrelated to functionality and content such as movies and games will continue to be not protected by the Design Act.

For more information on image designs and software-related designs, please see our website:To those in the IT industryPlease see the page.

Related article

TOP