制作・著作
Our office information and patent related news are as follows.
The related design system of the Japanese Design Act allows the registration of a design similar to another pending or registered design of the same applicant.
Thus, it is possible to register different variations of a design as separate designs.
Please find an example here:
https://www.spatent.com/common/img/fig_design_04.gif
The related design system gives the applicant the opportunity to specify and extend his right of protection to similar designs.
Due to a revision to the Japanese Design Act in 2019, the following two points in regard to the related design system will be changed.
(1) The applicable period of the related design is extended to 10 years after the filing date of the original main design application. According to the rule before the revision, a related design application could only be filed before the date of publication of the main registered design (about 8 months). By this revision, even if multiple designs are created over a long period of time, a design registration can be granted.
(2) The registration of a design which is only similar to a related design will be accepted. This allows registration of multiple variations of similar designs to be widely protected.
Related designs are also effective both in China and Korea. However, there are some differences about the applicable period and the range of related design in comparison to Japan.
(1) The applicable period of the related design is within one year from the filing date of the main design application in Korea. In China, there is no extended period so the related design needs to be filed along with the main design application.
(2) Designs similar to the related design would not be registered in both China and Korea.
The TSUBAME PATENT ATTORNEY FIRM (APA) has a lot of experience of filing of design applications for our clients from overseas. We offer a special package price of JPY 90,000 (official fee and 6 figs. included) for the filing of a design application in Japan.
Further, we assist you with the filing of your patents, utility models and trademarks as well as with rights management in Japan, China and Korea. Please feel free to contact us.