Last week, we paid attention to digital appearance design and seized 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. This week we continue to explore the connection between GUI and physical products, GUI graphical requirements, GUI animation, GUI text, patterns and colors.
01 Link between GUI and physical product
According to the Locarno Classification, an international classification for the registration of industrial designs, GUIs fall under the specific category 14-04.
In Brazil, England and Wales, the European Union, France, Germany, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden and Ukraine, the GUI itself can be registered independently of its physical product.
In Argentina, the physical product to which the GUI design is applied must be described.
In Croatia and Saudi Arabia, the GUI design must contain a description of the physical product.
In China, Japan, Korea, and the United States, physical products containing a GUI must be shown graphically and noted in the title or description.
In Mexico, the physical product to which the GUI is applied must be depicted graphically and also mentioned in the title of the application.
In Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, England and Wales, European Community, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United States, where physical products are not shown by illustration or only by means of dotted or dashed line (hereinafter referred to as "dashed line"), the protection of the GUI design will not take into account the physical product it is attached to.
In China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa, even if the physical product to which the GUI is applied is shown by dotted lines, the type of physical product shown with the GUI will affect the scope of protection of the application. In these countries, GUI designs are only protected if the GUI is attached to the specific product depicted in the application and not others.
02 GUI icon requirements
The basic rule common to the design patent laws of GUI countries around the world is that the drawings or photographs must clearly show the claimed parts, and the unclaimed parts must also be outlined as clearly as possible, usually with dotted lines or by coloring or obscured to delineate unclaimed parts.
In Argentina, Croatia, England and Wales, European Community, France, Germany, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Ukraine and the United States, GUI applications are permitted to use visual exclusion means of protection, For example, use dashed lines to exclude parts that are not intended to be protected.
Design registration is allowed for only one GUI element among the multiple elements that make up the GUI, as long as the relevant component, such as an icon, is marked with a solid line and placed in its environment, such as displayed on a screen. In Brazil, Croatia, European Community, France, Germany, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United States, GUI elements can be protected by presenting the element itself without presenting other GUI elements and contextual information such as physical products.
But in countries such as Argentina, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, single GUI elements cannot be protected if they are not linked to a physical product.
In China, GUI elements such as icons can display both the element itself and environmental information by using solid lines, which means that the scope of protection will also include environmental features.
03 Animated GUI
The term "animation" refers to dynamic images, transitions, etc. that reflect changes in the GUI or GUI elements. Animated GUIs bring new challenges in the illustration of design patent applications, because animation itself cannot be depicted in the illustrations of patent applications. But in Argentina, China, Croatia, European Union, France, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, Singapore, South Africa, Ukraine and the United States, animations can be protected through a single application.
In Croatia, the European Union, France, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa and Sweden, the illustration of an animated GUI is permitted by including a series of drawings or photographs reflecting the animation changes in a clear and understandable sequence trend, while all the images in the sequence are visually related to each other.
In China, Japan and Russia, it is necessary to explain the changing trend or essential features of the claimed GUI design.
In Brazil, England and Wales, Germany, Romania and Saudi Arabia, animation cannot be directly protected by a single application.
In Brazil, Germany and Romania, indirect protection is allowed by filing multiple design applications, each with a static representation representing a different position of the animation.
04 GUI text, patterns and colors
The arrangement of two or more GUI elements reflects the position, relationship and/or size ratio between the GUI elements. With such a layout of GUI elements, in all countries that recognize GUI design rights except China, the applicant can Only the layout is shown in the design application, without any text or pattern in the icon or dialog box, as shown in the figure below.
In China and Romania, it is allowed to use words or phrases to represent textual elements in GUI elements, showing the position of the words without limiting the scope of protection.
In China, England and Wales, Japan, Korea, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Ukraine and the United States, the text or representation displayed may have an impact on the scope of protection, depending on the originality of the specific text or representation and the impact on the overall aesthetic appearance. If the text contributes to the form of the design, such as shape, pattern or colour, then it affects the scope of protection.
In Argentina, Brazil, China, England and Wales, European Union, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United States, black and white illustrations cover any color GUI variation, so if there is no special request from the customer, Normally, no color protection is specified.
However, in Croatia, Singapore and Sweden, black and white icons are only protected as black and white, without extending the scope of protection to other colors.
In Croatia, Germany, Japan, Romania, Russia and Saudi Arabia, to protect a design in specific colors, representations of those colors must be displayed.
In Singapore, to protect a color, the applicant must select "color" as a design feature and must include a detailed description of the color scheme used.
