2019年TheSimilarAndDifferentRegu TheSimilarAndDifferentRegulationsOnIndustrialDesignsBetweenChinaAndCanadaHeZijingAbstract:WithChinaenteringWTO,moreandmoreChineseindustrialdesignerswanttoapplyinternationallytoregistertheirdesignsoutsideChina.ThispapershowsyouthedetailedparisonaboutregulationsconcerningindustrialdesignsbetweenChinaandCanada,givessomesuggestionsabouttheprocesstoregisterinternationallytoprotectChineseapplier.Somehintsimposedonthedifferencebetweenthetwocountrieswillhelptoimproveourpatentlaw.KEYWORDS:Industrialdesign,China,Canada1.Generalintroductiononindustrialdesigns1.1Whatisanindustrialdesign?1.1.1OfWIPOAnindustrialdesignistheornamentalofaestheticaspectofanarticle.Thedesignmayconsistofthree-dimensionalfeatures,suchastheshapeorsurfaceofanarticle,oroftwo-dimensionalfeatures,suchaspatterns,linesorcolor.Industrialdesignsareappliedtoawidevarietyofproductsofindustryandhandicraft.Tobeprotectedundermostnationallaws,anindustrialdesignmustappealtotheeye.Thismeansthatanindustrialdesignisprimarilyofanaestheticnature,anddoesnotprotectanytechnicalfeaturesofthearticletowhichitisapplied.DesigninthePatentLawmeansanynewdesignoftheshape,thepatternortheirbination,orthebinationofthecolorwithshapeorpattern,ofaproductwithcreatesanaestheticfeelinganditfitsforindustrialapplication.1.1.3OfCANADADesignofindustrialdesignmeansfeaturesofshape,configuration,patternorornamentandanybinationofthosefeaturesthat,inafinishedarticle,appealtoandarejudgedsolelybytheeye.1.2OtherformsofIntellectualPropertyInChina,Intellectualpropertycanbegenerallyclassifiedaspatent,copyright,trademark.Patents,orinotherwords,inventions-creations,meaninventions,utilitymodelsanddesigns.Sothatthedesignsareoneofthesubdivisionsofpatents.Whereas,inCanada,inadditiontoindustrialdesigns,thereotherformsofintellectualproperty,aspatents,copyrights,andintegratedcircuittopographies.Hereby,patentscovernewinventions(process,machine,manufacture,positionofmatter),oranynewandusefulimprovementofanexistinginvention.Sothatindustrialdesignshavetheequalstatuestopatents,asoneofthesubdivisionsofintellectualproperty.1.3Whyprotectindustrialdesigns?Industrialdesignsarewhatmakeanarticleattractiveandappealing;hence,theyaddtothemercialvalueofaproductandincreaseitsmarketability.Whenanindustrialdesignisprotected,theowner-thepersonorentitythathasregisteredthedesign-isassuredanexclusiverightagainstunauthorizedcopyingorimitationofthedesignbythirdparties.Thishelpstoensureafairreturnoninvestment.Aneffectivesystemofprotectionalsobenefitsconsumersandthepublicatlarge,bypromotingfairpetitionandhonesttradepractices,encouragingcreativity,andpromotingmoreaestheticallyattractiveproduct.Protectingindustrialdesignshelpseconomicdevelopment,byencouragingcreativityintheindustrialandmanufacturingsectors,aswellasinthetraditionalartsandcrafts.Theycontributetotheexpansionofmercialactivitiesandtheexportofnationalproducts.Industrialdesignscanberelativelysimpleandinexpensivetodevelopandprotect.Theyarereasonablyaccessibletosmallandmedium-sizedenterprisesaswellastoindividualartistsandcraftsmen,inbothindustrializedanddevelopingcountries.1.4Howcanindustrialdesignsbeprotected?Inmostcountries,anindustrialdesignmustberegisteredinordertobeprotectedunderIndustrialDesignLaw.AsforChina,theregulationsondesignareunderthePatentLawofPeoplesRepublicofChina(PRC)anditsimplementingregulations;AsforCanada,TheIndustrialDesignActandIndustrialDesignRegulationsdetailstheregulationsthatgoverndesignrights.Asageneralrule,toberegisterable,thedesignmustbe“new”or“original”.Differentcountrieshavevaryingdefinitionsofsuchterms,aswellasvariationsintheregistrationprocessitself.Generally,“new”meansthatnoidenticalorverysimilardesignisknowntohaveexistedbefore.Dependingontheparticularnationallawandthekindofdesign,anindustrialdesignmayalsobeprotectedasaworkofartundercopyright.2.Themaindifferenceconcerningregistration2.1WhentofileanapplicationThereisnotimelimitforfilinganapplicationaslongasthedesignhadneverbeenpublished.Theterm“published”meansthatthedesignhasbeenmadepublic(eventoyourneighbors)orofferedformercialsaleoruseanywhereintheworld.Itisbesttofileanquicklyaspossibleifpublicationhasoccurred.InCanada,thedesignshallberefusedtoberegisterediftheapplicationisfiledmorethanoneyearafterthepublicationofthedesigninCanadaofsomewhere.2.2whocanapply?2.3Whatrequirementstomakedesignsregisterable?InCanada,theministershallregisterthedesigniftheministerfindsthatitisnotidenticalwithordosenotsocloselyresembleanyotherdesignalreadyregisteredastobeconfoundedtherewith,andshallreturntotheproprietorthereofthedrawingorphotographanddescriptionwiththecertificaterequired.InChina,anydesignforwhichpatentfightmaybegrantedmustnotbeidenticalwithandsimilartoanydesignwhich,beforethedateoffallinghasbeenpubliclydisclosedinpublicationsinthecountryorabroadorhasbeenpubliclyusedinthecountry,andmustnotbeinconflictwithanypriorrightofanyotherperson.2.4Whatyoucannotregister?InChina,foranyofthefollowing,nopatentrightshallbegranted:1scientificdiscoveries;2rulesandmethodsformentalacti