Scope of Designs in Intellectual Property Law

Designs possess significant intellectual and industrial property rights value because they constitute a competitive advantage in the market, alongside entrepreneurship. As is known, designs result in products that are unique to the individual or subject matter, providing a source of income for individuals in the market, and also representing their intellectual property rights. In this sense, disputes arising from actions such as design imitation, exact copying, or unfair design to surpass a competitor become the subject of legal cases.

Designs that attract customer attention in the market in terms of their appearance, and which are synonymous with a brand, are designs that are unique to a specific subject and whose origin is very closely related to the brand. The unlicensed or unauthorized use of these designs in a way that constitutes unfair competition results in loss of profit and constitutes a form of theft, specifically design theft. Therefore, from the perspective of design law, these designs need protection.

The distinction between utility models and designs is also important in resolving disputes. A design is defined as a formal arrangement that has value and meaning in the mind of the target audience, appeals to the designer, and therefore plays a role in the preference of the target audience for a product with a specific design. While there is no rational situation involved up to this point, scientific data comes into play. Some designs are not designed simply because they appeal to the masses, but rather because they are designed with processes that improve the capacity, scope, function, or any other function of the product in question; from this point on, they are called utility models. Even if they are not identical as designs, utility models based on the same technical basis require protection against imitation with a patent or utility model certificate if competition is violated.

In Turkish law, the protection of designs is regulated in the Industrial Property Law. According to Article 69 of this law , 'The protection period for registered designs is five years from the date of application. This period can be extended for five-year periods, up to a total of twenty-five years.' This emphasizes that registered designs also have a protection period. Design protection means that a person has a kind of monopoly right over the design. This monopoly protection ensures that the person is protected against unfair use and unjust enrichment.

Design protection aims to reward innovative efforts. However, even if designs meet the requirements, they are not protected indefinitely in a monopolistic manner. In this respect, limiting the duration of protection is an important element in ensuring the freedom of enterprise of competitors.[1]

According to Article 56/4 of the Industrial Property Law, 'An identical design;'

     a) Before the application or priority date for the registered design,

     b) For unregistered designs, prior to the date the design was first made public,

A design is considered new if it has not been publicly presented anywhere in the world. Designs are considered the same if they differ only in minor details

According to Article 56/5 of the Turkish Trademark Law, 'The overall impression a design leaves on an informed user' is...

    a) Before the application or priority date for the registered design,

    b) For unregistered designs, prior to the date the design was first made public,

A design is considered to have distinctive character if it differs from the general impression it creates on the same user from any design that has been made available to the public

It is worth noting that if a product needs to be designed in a certain way to fulfill its function, then protecting this necessary design or arguing that it constitutes unfair competition would not be in accordance with law and equity.

Article 59/1 of the Industrial Property Law establishes the legal basis for protection: 'The rights arising from a design belong exclusively to the design owner. Third parties may not produce, market, sell, import, commercially use, or possess for these purposes the protected design or the product to which the design is applied, or make an offer to enter into a contract relating to this design or the product to which the design is applied, without the permission of the design owner.'

In conclusion, all unique designs are under legal protection. The fact that a design has its own distinctive drawing and character structure is one of the primary purposes that needs to be protected. As explained earlier, designs that have meaning in the mindset of their target audience and possess market value are among the values ​​that the law must protect.

You can obtain further information on this matter by consulting with our experienced lawyers .

Hamdi Berk Can

[1] Intellectual Property Rights in Practice – Unfair Competition Cases – Güneş – 6th Edition