The Japan Patent Office has registered two interior designs of stores for the first time since the Design Law was revised to make the intellectual property rights of such designs subject to protection.
The law was revised in April to protect the rights to designs such as creative shapes and colors. Under the new legislation, applications for such rights protection are likely to increase, as restaurants and other business operators are trying to use attractive interior designs to draw in customers.
The registrations were made for the interior design used for some Tsutaya Books stores, which are run by Culture Convenience Club Co., and some outlets run by major go-round sushi restaurant chain operator Kura Sushi, Inc.
The interior of some Tsutaya Books stores is designed to create space in which customers can spend time comfortably by placing desks in at the long spaces between bookcases, with a ceiling designed to block direct light.
Kura Sushi uses an interior design in which tables and a conveyor belt for sushi are placed under a yagura wooden frame that comprises pillars and a roof. Art director Kashiwa Sato created the design.
Once a design is registered for rights protection, the rights holder can monopolize the design for up to 25 years after filing the application. If the design is imitated, the rights holder can seek an injunction or compensation for damages.
Under the revised law, not only goods but also interior designs, architectural structures and images became eligible for registration. According to the patent office, there had been 132 applications for interior designs, 204 for architectural structures and 450 for images as of Oct. 1.
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