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What is a Design?

Design in English can be defined as a broad concept including visual communication designs related to products, advertisements, graphics, and multimedia designs, as well as environmental designs related to a living space or environment.

Design, as specified in Article 2 (1) of the Industrial Design Act (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), refers to the shape, pattern, color or combination of these in an article that produces an aesthetic impression on the sense of sight; the same applies to a part of an article and style of calligraphy.

Therefore, a design in the Act can be defined in relation to the appearance of goods (or movable property) which can be independently transacted..

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Requirements for a design reghts

1. Merchantability
A design has an indivisible relationship with articles and cannot exist without articles.
That is, the Act does not protect a created design, but protects articles to which the design is applied.

The articles herein mean "movable properties which are independent and definitive."
Thereby, the following cannot be included in articles protected in accordance with the Act.

- Immovable property
- Shapeless things such as heat, air, fluid, electric, etc;
- Powder or granules such as sugar; and
- Things that are not the intrinsic shapes of articles (e.g. a handkerchief folded into the shape of a flower).
- As of July 1, 2001, the partial design of articles such as the heels of socks, necks of bottle, and handles of coffee cups can be registered. However, the name of the design target articles shall be specified as socks, packing bottles, or coffee cups.


2. Configuration (shape, pattern, color)
Configuration means the shape, pattern, or color, or a combination of these in an article
- Shape: appearance of an article which occupies space, 3D outline which composes articles;
- Pattern: chromaticity, color turbidity, and color distinction which show the appearance of articles;
and 
- Color: color painted on articles to be discriminated visually


3. Visibility
A design is limited to things which can be identified by the human eye. In other words, the Act does not apply to things sensed by a feeling, things unable to be discerned and to things which can only be identified using instruments such as a microscope.


4. Aesthetics
A design is applied only to things which stimulate an aesthetic sense. However, since an aesthetic sense may be subject to individual judgment, it is difficult to establish exact judgment criteria. Therefore, in actual examination, if an article has perceptible formative beauty rather than a high-level of aesthetic sense, it is regarded as possessing aesthetic sense.