SUMMARY OUTLINE OF THE DESIGN LAW REVISIONS

Effective as of January 1, 1999

1. THE OBJECT OF PROTECTION WILL BE EXPANDED

Up to now, if only a part of an article was distinctive it was not possible to register just that part. However, with the introduction of a partial-design system to effectively protect against imitations it will now be possible to obtain broad rights with respect to the creation of a distinctive part of an article.
The list of articles that can be registered as sets will be greatly expanded from the current 13, and so-called system designs such as system kitchens will be eligible for design registration as well.

2. INDEPENDENT RIGHTS WILL ALSO BE RECOGNIZED FOR SIMILAR VARIATIONS

Similar designs were not considered to have independent validity under the old similar-design system, so it was sometimes difficult to enforce patent rights if another’s design was not similar to one’s own. Under the newly implemented related design system, however, similar designs will be given the same independent validity as the typical principal design, so the same person will be able to obtain broad rights with respect to his or her similar design variations.

3. THE DESIGN APPLICATION PROCEDURE WILL BE MORE USER-FRIENDLY

The descriptive requirements of the application form and the drawings have been diversified and streamlined. The permitted modes of expression have been expanded, making it possible to specify the application design with fewer drawings.
In addition, a distinctiveness description system has been introduced to allow the applicant himself to claim the distinctiveness of the design. Describing the distinctiveness of the design in words should improve the examination process and speed up examination of the application.

4. THE CREATION OF HIGH-QUALITY DESIGNS WILL BE ENCOURAGED

Up to now, whether a design would be eligible for registration depended in part on whether the design could have been easily created from a motif or design widely known in Japan. The new revisions will heighten this “creative ease” standard, making a design ineligible for registration if it could have been easily created from a motif or design widely known not just in Japan but anywhere in the world.
Also, new registration eligibility requirements will mean that, if a later-filed design application is the same as or similar to a part of a design application filed earlier, then the later application will be rejected once the earlier application is published due to registration. Such later-filed applications are themselves not newly created, so they run counter to the Design Law’s aim of protecting the creation of new designs and hence are not eligible for registration.

5. ADDITIONAL REVISIONS WILL BE CARRIED OUT IN ORDER TO HARMONIZE JAPAN'S DESIGN LAW WITH THAT OF OTHER COUNTRIES

Protection of designs based solely on function will be eliminated. This move is based in part on a consideration of the strikingly harmful effects that registering function-based designs as partial designs would have.
In addition, later-filed applications will no longer be automatically rejected just because an earlier-filed application has been determined to be ineligible for registration but has not yet been officially rejected. This change will eliminate the so-called rejection chain reaction problem (explained further below) and will make the examination process more transparent, and thus more in line with the Design Law’s aim of protecting creative designs.