Japan: A major design change
The amended Japanese Design Law, effective since April 1, 2020, has drastically changed the design registration system in Japan.
The various amendments expand the scope of protection to images, buildings and interiors, enhance the related design system, and extend the duration of design rights (changed to 25 years from the application date from the previous 20 years from registration date).
This article outlines the expansion of the scope of protection to images, buildings and interiors that drastically changes the conventional definition of design.
According to convention, design is protected by the Japanese Design Law. A “design” in this act “means the shape, patterns or colours, or any combination thereof, of an article” (article 2 [1]).
As images, buildings and interiors cannot be said to be an article, a shape in real estate such as a building and an image indicated on website therefore fell outside of the scope of protection in Japanese Design Law.
However, prefabricated buildings and certain images are sometimes protected conventionally. Following conventional practice, exceptional protection was only provided for a movable prefabricated building (as movable property). An image related to the function of goods and recorded or indicated in the goods, was also covered, according to the definition of design in Japanese Design Law.
