유사디자인 제도의 보호범위의 모형화와 디자인 권리 확대 방안

This study is to explore on the significance of the similar design system in Design Protection Law, the basis of judgment on similarity and relevant limitations. Further, the unclear scope of protection in the similar design system is specifically schematized here so that the rights to similar design can be strategically applied. In addition, the scope of design protection is modeled into the 'conceptual', 'general' and 'supreme' scopes of protection for the purpose of discussion. Besides, cases are introduced to analyze actual examples of judgment on similarity. At the same time, the modeling arranged by the investigator is used to illustrate the steps of general and supreme scopes of protection and to seek for how to extend design rights. To sum up, the present study suggests forming a protection net by establishing the scope of similarity for some design that are most susceptible to imitation, not by having every design registered with similar designs, which should be achieved through the execution of the supreme design rights. Lastly, in terms of operating the system, as the related design system rather than the current similar design system can guarantee firm execution of rights against actions of third parties, this system needs adopting immediately.