[Design] Case No. 2024 (Gyo-ke) 10108
更新日：4 時間前
Article information
Categories: Designs
Topics: Similarity of designs / Partial designs / Novelty
Published on this website: 2026-09-29
[Design] Case No. 2024 (Gyo-ke) 10108
[Packaging container / Partial design] (Presiding Judge Masuda)
★ A judgment clarifying whether a partial design and an overall design can be registered as related designs, and the difference in the scope of comparison in assessing novelty!!
<Comparison with the principal design: related design, Article 10(1)>
The design in the application is a partial design covering only the flange, whereas the principal design is an overall design covering the entire storage container. They therefore differ greatly in use, function, position, size, extent, shape, etc., and are not similar.
⇒ Cannot be registered as a related design.
<Comparison with the cited design: novelty, Article 3(1)(iii)>
Since registration as a related design is unavailable, Article 10(2) does not apply to the registered design at issue, and it is not excluded from the cited designs.
⇒ The portion in the application and the corresponding portion of the cited design share the characteristic form of the flange and are similar.
*The court held that, when comparing an overall design with a partial design, the scope of comparison differs between the similarity assessment for related designs (comparing the whole with the part) and that for novelty (comparing with the corresponding portion of the cited design), and there is nothing improper about the determinations differing.
Originally posted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7510136873969729536/
