Legal Protection On Graphical User Interface Design Patent

With the continuous development of China’s electronic information industry, the protection of the graphical user interface is becoming a hot topic. China’s traditional system of design patent does not protect the "pattern displayed after the product is energized", this provision in the "Patent Examination Guidelines" clearly blocked the protection of graphical user interface out of the design patent scope. Therefore,according to the practices in China, we can only give this kind of intellectual outcome the weak protection by other types of intellectual property rights, in which there were many non-adaptive.Subsequently, China admitted the application of eligible graphical user interface design patents by the approach of modifying the "Patent Examination Guidelines".Although China is now able to apply the graphical user interface design, but there are some places worth exploring. First, the application must be titled with "product with a graphical user interface", which place the core on the product, rather than the protecting object of graphical user interface; secondly, China’s current design patents do not protect the partial design, which results in the incompatibility during the application of the user interface; finally, China asks for functional requirements on the graphical user interface, that is, a graphical user interface which can pass the examination must be used “for human-computer interaction, to achieve the product’s functions”.Most of the countries and regions in the world, whose electronic information industry is well developed, give the graphical user interface a certain design patent protection. Timely introduction of the graphical user interface design patent protection into China, can(a) meet the objective requirements for the current industry of us,(b)come close to the worldwide standards of graphical user interface protection system. However, China’s protection of the graphical user interface is still just getting started, there are many content needed to in-depth study. Therefore, this thesis which is aimed to China’s current regulations, is trying to explore an optimizing path for the graphical user interface design in China by referencing to the long-time practices in the European Union, the United States and Japan.In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the thesis core content is divided into three parts:The first part summarizes the current situation of graphical user interface protection in China. This chapter firstly discusses the necessity of design patent protection by two points of view; secondly, arranging the currently relevant regulations on the protection of the graphical user interface in China, in which compares the contents of the main modifications before and after modification of the "Patent Examination Guidelines"; and finally, put forward problems encountered in our practice.The second part is the comparative study, which is divided into two chapters to study the problem from two angles. The second chapter is the study of the object and the carrier of the graphical user interface. This chapter selects three representative countries and regions of the European Union, the United States and Japan to analysis and in-depth study the protection object and the carrier of the various countries and regions on the graphical user interface, in order to provide a clear guidance for the object of graphical user interface in China. The third chapter is the research on the protection scope of the graphical user interface. This chapter also selects the European Union, the United States and Japan, and compares the protection scope of the graphical user interface of each country.Based on the issues raised at the beginning of the thesis, the third part putsforward several recommendations for our current graphical user interface protection by referencing to the experience in other countries and regions. First of all, our country should clearly declare that, the protection object of graphical user interface is the graphical user interface itself, rather than the overall product; secondly, the introduction of partial design system can facilitate the protection of the graphical user interface, as well as improve the design system in China; and finally, provide suggestions for the protection of the graphical user interface in our country.