Patents/utility models and designs, each of which is
regulated by the Industrial Property Law are separated from each other in terms of the subject of the
protection provided to the right holder. Patents and utility
models provide protection for technical inventions, while designs provide
protection for the products' appearance features. Although the “technical
function” is mainly the subject of patent and utility model law, the appearance features of
products determined by a technical function may benefit from both
design and patent (and utility models) protection. However, the appearance
features that are necessary for the technical functioning of the product cannot
benefit from design protection. This is because the law makers do not prefer a
case, where technical features that do not fulfill the requirements of the
protection conditions stated in the patent and utility model legislation
obtaining a similar monopolistic right based on the design legislation. What is
to be understood from this exception to design rights, also named as “shaping
of design by the technical function” is an issue to be reconsidered in
accordance with the “Doceram” decision of the Court of Justice of the European
Union taken in 2018. Accordingly, the Court has made “causality” criterion the
focal point of the assessment instead of the “freedom of choice/multiplicity of
form” criterion hitherto adopted and, consequently, narrowed the scope of
design law.
Design Technical Functionality Cumulative Protection Multiplicity of Form “Doceram” Decision
Primary Language | Turkish |
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Subjects | Law in Context |
Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | December 31, 2019 |
Submission Date | August 22, 2019 |
Acceptance Date | October 22, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 10 Issue: 2 |