[Designs] A case recognizing indirect infringement of a partial design
Updated: Oct 9
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Designs
Topics: Indirect infringement、Partial designs
First published on this site: 2026-10-10
Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10
[Designs] A case recognizing indirect infringement of a partial design
Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 3 (Wa) No. 30281 — Hand-pushing member for a transport cart (Judge Kokubu)
1. Comparison of the articles
“The articles relating to the registered designs and the article relating to the defendant’s design are attached to a transport cart and used to protect the hand holding the grip from surrounding objects. Their purpose and function are the same.”
2. Comparison of the shapes
“There is no publicly known design combining the shape of the grip and that of the protective portion of Registered Design 1 as viewed obliquely from above. [...]
[...] The common features of Registered Design 1 and Defendant’s Design 1′ [...] produce an aesthetic impression approximately resembling an inverted letter ‘T’ when viewed from the front. Although the surface of the grip in Registered Design 1 is smooth, whereas Defendant’s Design 1′ has nine annular ridges at equal intervals around the grip, and this is a difference concerning an essential part, the unevenness is not substantial. It cannot be assessed as a difference sufficient to outweigh the aesthetic impression of an approximately inverted ‘T’ produced by Defendant’s Design 1′.”
3. Requirements for indirect infringement
“The defendant’s product is not attached to anything other than the single pipe of a transport cart and does not acquire a function or purpose different from that of a hand-pushing member (entire import of the oral argument). Accordingly, the defendant’s product, which is attached to the upper end of the transport cart’s single pipe, is an article ‘used exclusively for manufacturing’ the hand-pushing member of a transport cart (Design Act, Article 38(i)(a)).”
(Translated excerpts; duplicate passages in the original are quoted once.)
Original article (2025-08-16):
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This history records actual publication, display, and classification changes made on this site.
2026-10-10: First published the LinkedIn original on this site and set the classification, article information, and consultation link.
2026-10-10: Aligned the translation link, canonical URL and hreflang with the verified public URLs.
2026-10-10: Updated related-article links. The original article text was not changed.
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