Research On The Application Of Industrial Design Patent Infringement Standards

Developed countries have organized and implemented special legislation in protecting industrial design.For China,clear provisions have been formulated to protect industrial design patents in laws and regulations such as Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China,with patents for design,inventions,and utility models under the protection of Intellectual Property Law.Focusing on design patents,this paper delves into the application of the standards in identification of IP infringement.Before that,the scope of design protection shall be determined first.According to the patent law of China,the whole or partial design of industrial products is comprehensively protected.The design herein refers to an innovative design that takes products as the carrier with functional and artistic attributes.A beautiful product appearance can fully motivate consumers for consumption,or arouse their interest and draw their attention through the product.China’s patent law stipulates three types of patent rights: design,utility models,and inventions and only design patents are exempted from substantive examinations.In addition,in essence,design patents embody the application of aesthetic thoughts in the industrial field and it is difficult to prove their similarity by instrument measurement or data comparison.At the same time,macro standards or principles dominate China’s design-related regulations,which results in the highest probability of design infringement and multiple relevant infringement disputes.Starting from theories of identification of design patent infringement,the author makes a brief introduction to theories including design concepts,existing identification standards,and the identification process.Through three typical cases,“Appeal of Kong Wei against Yu Zhiyuan”,“Case of Wanfeng Motorcycle Wheels”and “Invalidation of Honda Patent”,this paper analyzes the application of the standards for identifying design patent infringement in China and points out the problems of IP infringement identification in China such as a limited scope of infringing parties and unreasonable application of identification standards.In addition,the identification systems of design infringement in the United States,Japan,and the European Union are analyzed to examine their advantages.Finally,the paper summarizes the studies related to the identification standards of design infringement and provides reasonable and effective suggestions for the application of standards,hoping to diversify and improve the design patent system in China.