[Design] IP High Court, Case No. 2024 (Ne) 10086
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Article information
Categories: Designs
Topics: Similarity of designs
Published on this website: 2026-09-29
[Design] IP High Court, Case No. 2024 (Ne) 10086
[Storage container] (Presiding Judge Hibiki Shimizu)
*Not similar (the design right holder lost on reversal).
<Identification of the essential portion>
Viewed individually, each configuration of the plaintiff's design exists in known designs. However, no known design possessing all of them is found, so novel creativity is recognized in the unified aesthetic impression produced by their combination.
<Evaluation of the difference: whether the upper edge is curved or a horizontal straight line>
Consumers also use storage containers as part of their interior furnishings and attach importance to their appearance viewed obliquely from above.
From that viewpoint, the curved shape of the upper edge is, if anything, easy to recognize.
The upper edge strongly attracts consumers' attention as a part showing the external characteristics of a "container," and greatly affects the aesthetic impression.
The plaintiff's design gives a natural, soft impression overall through its curved upper edge, whereas the defendant's design, with a horizontal straight upper edge, is partly flat and produces a different aesthetic impression.
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