In today’s fast-paced global economy, most businesses rely heavily
on the internet for their virtual survival when it comes to selling goods and
services. Graphical User Interface (GUI) that is a part of our everyday life
appears critical while creating the precise user experience to attract and keep
the consumers interested. As a consequence, GUIs have become valuable Intellectual
Property (IP) assets, often representing a company’s
goodwill and brand identity.
What are GUIs?
GUIs or Graphical User Interfaces refer to the tools for
man-machine interaction. These include simple icons, menus, etc., used in
operating systems to control the devices and develop a method to interact with
the computer or other electronic gadgets. The ‘look and feel’ is often
functional and helps in customer engagement by the eye-pleasing appearance that
leads to differentiation of products and services. Nevertheless, the
technological advancements have gradually reduced the differences amongst
similar electronic products, and thus, developed and raised the need for the
protection of GUIs. Now, the question arises whether or not these GUIs are
offered any protection as a form of IP or under IP
laws. Well, by virtue of modern commerce, different
nations view GUIs and their protection in different ways. For instance, many
countries like the USA, Brazil, South Africa, etc., offer provisions to secure
GUIs under one or the other form of Design
Patent Protection. However, the Indian Design Office is reluctant to register them
under Industrial Design Patent in India even when the Designs Act 2002 recognizes the GUI’s
protection. The argument is:
GUI cannot be regarded as an article of manufacture, and thus, is
disqualified as a design under Act 2002. Nonetheless, it can be argued that the
Design Rules, 2001 under its Third Schedule provided for the classification of
designs and articles, allows Industrial
Design Registration for GUIs. This
Third Schedule was then amended in 2008 to comply with the Locarno
Classification, and according to the new classification of goods, class 14-04
was dedicated to things belonging to “Screen Displays and Icons.”
As per many reports, the Indian Design Office, till 2009, did
grant some registrations to companies like Microsoft Corporation for icons and
screen displays under Class 14-99. Nevertheless, the Office lately appears to
have claimed that under Section 2(a) and 2(d) of the Designs Act, GUIs do not
qualify as designs. Hence, these are not eligible for Industrial
Design Protection in India.
Well, the interpretation of the legal provision hasn’t been
without dispute. To know and understand how the interpretation led to disputes,
let’s go through an example. A few years ago, in the decision issued by the
administrator in a case involving Amazon Technologies, class 14-02 of the
Design Act came under fire. The disputed registration case pertained to a GUI
for providing supplemental information of a digital work to a screen. The
Office, in its objections, noted that the proposed design could not be defined
as a design under section 2(a) and 2(d) of the Designs Act, 2000. This case
drew attention to the below-stated two provisions:
1. As per Section 2(a), article means:
Any article of manufacture and any substance – artificial, party artificial, or partly natural, and includes part of an article capable of being produced and sold separately.
Any article of manufacture and any substance – artificial, party artificial, or partly natural, and includes part of an article capable of being produced and sold separately.
2. Besides, according to Section 2(d), a design would be considered
registrable if it satisfies the following conditions:
o Design means only the features of shape, pattern, configuration,
ornament, or composition of lines or colors.
o The design needs to be applied to an article.
Administrators at the Indian Design Office, while refusing any
application for Registration
of Industrial Design in India, tend to make several
observations. To comprehend what they often observe, let’s see why they refused
Amazon’s application:
1. First of all, the administrator said that the Graphic Display
Screen was a function of the computer screen, which turns operative only when
the system was switched ON. That’s why it failed to fulfill the requirements of
the consistent eye, as required under Section 2(d).
2. Then he claimed that as the GUI could not be converted to any
output, it is not eligible to be considered as an article under Section 2(a).
It means GUI did neither fit into this category nor qualify as an article of
manufacture.
3. He also said that as the GUI wasn’t physically accessible, and
thus, could not be sold separately in the market, it failed to meet the
requirements of Section 2(d).
4. Lastly, he explained that the design proposed under the GUI didn’t
fall under the purview of meaning defined in the Act.
In the light of the decision passed in the matter of Amazon, it
seems obvious that the fate of applications related to registration of GUIs as
industrial design in India is uncertain until there’s more clarity on the two
vital terms – article and design. In addition to Amazon’s, many other cases,
especially one, which is related to a published design registration for ‘GUI
for An Account Identifier’ under Class-99-01, have created a stir to the
subject of GUI’s registration in India. However, it is still to be seen if this
registration is of one of a kind or would set the trend for GUIs’ Design
Registration in India.
Note: According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology, GUIs can be secured by obtaining Copyright
Protection as an alternative. But the enforceability and
extent of copyright protection are yet ambiguous. For
more visit: https://www.kashishipr.com/
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