디자인권 침해 관련 유사판단에서의 공지디자인의 참작

In a design infringement case, excluding the known parts and only comparing the remaining parts undermines the rule of observing the overall impression. Since the protection of a design is intended to protect the aesthetics or impression that comes from the overall combination of various elements, design similarity should not be judged solely on the remaining parts, excluding the publicly known parts. The reasons why publicly known designs should be considered in design infringement cases can be summarized in two points. First, it is intended to specify the main features that are the subject of comparison by considering where the new features are in consideration of the notice design. Second, it is intended to confirm the scope of rights of registered designs by examining the density of known designs. On the other hand, design features resulting from the combination of known parts often constitute the overall dominant feature of the registered design. Since the overall dominant feature of the design that comes from this combination relationship has a profound influence on the overall impression of the design, it should be treated as playing a very important role in judging the similarity of the design What is important in judging the similarity of designs related to infringement cases is that overall comparative observation should be the most basic principle. A comparison method that can effectively implement this principle of overall comparative observation while considering the publicly known design is the three-way visual comparison method. This comparative method is the most appropriate way to compare and judge the overall aesthetics or impression of the two designs being compared. We must also actively apply this three-way visual comparison method in our design practice.