Since 1 January 2003, it has been possible to register computer screen displays, web pages and icons as designs under the Community Design Regulation. British designers can also register their computer graphic images in the UK following the 2001 amendments to the Registered Designs Act 1949. David Bainbridge outlines the new rules.

The Community Design Regulation and the UK’s amended Registered Designs Act both offer protection for computer graphics and images. However judging by the small numbers of designs registered, the possibility of protection seems to have escaped the attention of many designers. This is a pity as registration provides monopoly protection at a relatively small cost – only 350 Euros (US$430) for a Community Registered Design and a mere £60 (US$109) for a UK Registered Design for the first five years.

Lack of awareness is perhaps historical. Prior to the 2001 amendments, very few computer graphics or images could be registered as designs under the 1949 Act. Previously, the Act defined ‘design’ in terms of ‘features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article by any industrial process’. ‘Article’ was defined as ‘any article of manufacture and includes any part of an article if that part is made and sold separately’. Furthermore, a design had to be applied to an article by an industrial process. This prohibited computer-generated images and icons from being registered. A small number managed to slip through, as the code that produced the images was hard-wired into the computer itself, such as the case of icons produced on the face of a digital watch.

Broader definitions
With the introduction of the Community Design Right and the amendments to the 1949 Act, a new and effective form of protection is possible. Now, a ‘design’ is defined as ‘the appearance of the whole or part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials of the product or its ornamentation’. A ‘product’ is defined as ‘any industrial or handicraft item other than a computer program; and, in particular, includes packaging, get-up, graphic symbols and typographic type-faces’.

These definitions allow the registration of images displayed on a huge variety of products, including computers, mobile phones, digital watches and digital cameras, providing the other requirements for registration – novelty and individual character – are satisfied. To assess novelty, a one-year period of grace is permitted so the owner may take up to a year before applying for registration. With these provisions, there should be no difficulty registering distinctive new computer icons, user-interfaces and web pages. And to assist the 8th edition of the Locarno International Classification for Designs, dated 1 January 2004, includes screen displays and icons in its classification system, which is used for the Community Design and the UK’s Registered Design.

Lack of awareness is perhaps historical. Prior to the 2001 amendments, very few computer graphics or images could be registered as designs under the 1949 Act

The unregistered right
In addition to the maximum 25-year monopoly protection the registration of a design offers, there is also an equivalent Community Unregistered Design Right, which lasts for three years from the date the design was first made available to the public. This right only provides protection against copying, but it does automatically protect new and distinctive computer images. However, since registered designs have more extensive protection which lasts for longer, registration would seem a more effective form of protection for designs.

For further information on how to protect computer graphic images and web pages as designs contact your IP attorney.

David Bainbridge is Professor of Business Law at Aston Business School in the UK and editor in chief of the Intellectual Property Law Reports.

This article first appeared in IP Review, issue 7

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