Expansion of the Scope of Protection of Design including Graphic Image
(1)
Since the revision of the Design Act in 2006, certain imaging portions as part of an article have been treated as designs and protected under the said Act.
However, thanks to the recent innovation of technology, individual equipment can connect to each other through networks, and graphical user interface (GUI) has an important role. Moreover, development of sensor technologies and projection technologies allows GUI to be projected on walls or human bodies rather than indicated on articles.
These circumstances made it necessary to expand the scope of protection
of designs having a graphic image as their part, resulting in the revision
of the Design Act in 2019.
Since the revision of the Design Act in 2019, it is generally understood
that there are basically the following 2 methods to obtain a design registration
for a design having a graphic image:
(1) Obtaining protection as a graphic image design (graphic image itself
independent of an article) (“graphic image design”); and
(2) Obtaining protection as a design having a graphic image as part of
an article or building (“design having a graphic image as part of an article
and the like”).