THE JAPANESE DESIGN LAW
The
Industrial Property Council has prepared a final draft of the proposed
bill of the Design Law of Japan. If the final draft is approved by the
Japanese parliament, the new Design Law will come into force on January
1, 1999.The
current Design Law of Japan was enacted in 1959, almost forty years ago.
When this Law came into force, Japanese industry was primarily geared to
export and there arose an urgent need to socially establish a fundamental
basis for promoting creative activity in industrial design and to develop
industrial products while recognizing the originality of the designs of
others. This was because a major social problem existed at that time regarding
the copying of industrial designs from Europe and the U.S., Japanese industry
had developed by adopting the so-called "catch-up" policy, whereby
industrial design techniques and concepts were introduced from Europe and
the U.S., and by internally promoting the effectiveness of mass production
and mass consumption. During these years, due to the policies mentioned
above, a considerable increase in the level of industrial designs in Japan
was attained.On
the other hand, if we consider the rest of the world, especially the countries
of Southeast Asia, their ability and importance in the field of industrial
design has rapidly strengthened. In view of these worldwide changes, it
has been pointed out that a greater increase in the overall level of creativity
of industrial designs in Japan is necessary for the years to come.Under
these circumstances, if we look at the current Japanese Design Law, which
came into force in almost forty years ago, we must recognize that several
of its systems are not suitable for recent developments in industrial design
or for protection of registered designs from copied designs.Considering
the improvements of designs in Japan and the changes in other countries,
which will make competition more severe, there has arisen the necessity
to revise the Design Law, to promote and give strong, broad rights to designs
having a high level of creativity.TO THE NEW DESIGN LAW
