기업 디자인 분쟁사례를 통해 본 ‘전체적으로 유사한 심미감’기준

Whether it is beautiful or not can be evaluated differently according to people, situations, cultures and times, and is not easy to be objectively evaluated. Determining whether two designs are similar or dissimilar is more difficult, because each person may have a variety of opinions. In most countries, including Korea, the overall similar aesthetic sense in determining the similarity of design is an important criteria. According to the overall similar aesthetic sense standard, even a design with partial differences could be judged as a similar design if the overall sense or feeling is similar. Although the criterion of the overall similar aesthetic sense seems relatively reasonable and useful in determining whether designs are similar or not, it is not easy to apply the criterion objectively, in that the judgment may vary, depending on the viewers, depending on the items, and in various circumstances. Also, in determining whether designs are similar, applying the overall similar aesthetic sense, the judgment may differ depending on whether the weight is placed on the common points or differences between the designs, and how much influence the part will have on the whole. Last but not least, when determining whether designs are similar based on the overall similar aesthetic sense, the problem is that a small important part can be overlooked, even though sometimes a partial subtle difference is a significant difference between compared designs, and a small important part can have a decisive influence on the overall aesthetics. Despite these problems, the overall similar aesthetic sense standard seems to be a useful criterion in determining whether the designs are similar, and it seems necessary to be objective and not to overlook partial critical details in the application of this standard, with the help of professionals in design.