We are paying attention to digital appearance design and seizing the Metaverse market! (Above) tells the basic concepts of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), the connection to the Metaverse, and the protected countries around the world. Last week, we paid attention to digital appearance design and seized the metaverse market! (middle) discusses the link between GUI and physical product, GUI graphic requirements, GUI animation, GUI text, patterns and colors. In this issue, we will introduce Taiwan, which is at the forefront of digital design protection, and its application and examination status.
01 Taiwan
In Taiwan, China, the protection of GUI and digital designs is at the forefront of the world. Through its patent law revision in 2011 and review guidelines revision in 2020, it is possible to apply for a design in the Metaverse in Taiwan, whether it is a hardware device used to display the Metaverse or a digital design in the Metaverse, as long as it is Industrial or hand-made product appearances can obtain design protection in Taiwan, but they need to be applied for in different uses and fields. For example, hardware devices are protected through article designs, and digital designs in the Metaverse are protected through Image design protection.
02Application and review
In Taiwan, the fields of metaverse design patents can be roughly classified into three categories: " virtual space", "virtual item" and "human-computer interface ".
1. "Virtual space" refers to the appearance of the virtual space in the metaverse concept. When applying for an appearance patent, you can refer to the application method for the "interior design" appearance patent. The following example 1 "Virtual Space: US Patent D947874".
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| U.S. appearance patent D947874 patent diagram | U.S. Appearance Patent D947874 Virtual Space |
2. "Virtual items" refer to items in the virtual world, including NFT or game objects (Pokémon series video games, Super Mario series video games), etc. When applying for appearance patents for such objects, you can refer to "industrial or handmade How to apply for an appearance patent for an article. The following example 2 "Virtual Item: US Appearance Patent D893616".
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| U.S. Appearance Patent D893616 Virtual Item | US appearance patent D893616 patent illustration |
3. The "human-computer interaction interface" is a bridge between users and the metaverse, and all operations need to be performed on this interface. When applying for appearance patents for such objects, you can refer to the application method for "graphical user interface (GUI)". For example, Example 3 "Human-Computer Interface: Hague International Registration 206003-065".
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| Hague International Registration 206003-065 Interactive Interface | Hague International Registration 206003-065 patent diagram |
To sum up, if you file an application with the digital design of the Metaverse as the object of protection, you can actually find existing cases in the drawing for reference. It should be noted that the classification of the design should belong to "computer digital product", while Cannot fall into categories such as physical items such as "bus interior" or "globe".
In general, the influence of the virtual world and the real world is increasing, and the boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred. The linkage between the Metaverse and NFT has opened up the market and brought a prosperous scene. However, the linkage between the virtual world and the real world should also be limited by reality. The laws and regulations of the world, so as to ensure the healthy and stable development of virtual property. Of course, as a brand-new field, the collision between metaverse and virtual property will generate more sparks, and we also look forward to the improvement and progress of legislation to fill this part of the gap.