Related Design System
The effect of a registered design extends to not only the scope of designs
identical therewith, but also the scope of designs similar thereto (for
details, please see our article “
Effect of Design Right” in this Web Site).
In addition, Related Design System is available as one of the approaches
to enhance the protection of designs.
In design-oriented product developments, design of products is not necessarily limited to just one, but there may be design variations created on the basis of a single design concept. The Related Design System protects those design variations, which are similar to the Principal Design, as having equivalent value with the Principal Design, and thereby enables rights to be enforced on each design.
Example of Principal Design and Related Design
Requirements for Obtaining Design Registration as a Related Design:
(1) The application for design registration is filed by the same applicant for design registration as that for the Principal Design;
(2) The application for design registration pertains to a design similar to the Principal Design;
(3) The application for design registration is filed on or after the filing date of the application for design registration for the Principal Design and before a lapse of 10 years from that date;
(4) The application for design registration complies with the ordinary requirements for design registration such as novelty;
(5) The design right of the Principal Design has not been extinguished; and
(6) Exclusive license has not been established on the design right of the Principal Design.
Terms used in connection with Related Design
(1) To obtain a design registration as a Related Design, a single design must be selected from the applicant’s own design for which an application for design registration has been filed or for which design registration has been granted. This selected design is called the “Principal Design”.
(2) The first selected Principal Design, that is, a “Principal Design” that is not a Related Design of any other design, is called the “Fundamental Design”.
How the Related Design System can be utilized
Use of this system enables the design owner to seek protection even if the design of finally commercialized product is different from the Principal Design. In addition, after filing the application for registration of the Principal Design, it is possible to obtain protection for those designs which are slightly modified from the Principal Design in view of the market’s reaction as well as for those variations of the Principal Design which are expected to be marketed in the future.
Under the Related Design System, “Related Design A” which is similar to “Fundamental Design” (shown below as the circle in light blue color) can be registered as a Related Design. Further, under the amended Design Law enforced in 2020, “Related Design B” which is not similar to “Fundamental Design” but is similar to “Related Design A” can also be registered as a Related Design.
In this way, by using a Related Design as the basis (i.e. Principal Design) for obtaining another Related Design one after another (as illustrated below), a number of Related Designs can be obtained successively. As the effect of design right extends to the scope of similarity of Related Designs, by taking advantage of this system, it is expected that counterfeits of others can be deterred more effectively.