The Design Force Awakens
Companies come up with original names, beautiful logos, and of course original, eye-catching designs to distinguish themselves.
As the saying goes: if you want to attract attention, you will have to stand out from the crowd. Also, an attractive design will lead to more customers.
Provided that the design is new and unlike any existing design, a distinctive design can be protected by means of a design right, and unlike a trademark, no obligation of use applies for designs. This protection, however, expires after 25 years.
One company renowned for its eye-catching and futuristic designs is Lucasfilm, the company behind the Star Wars movies. Several design elements from the Star Wars films, such as the Starfighter vehicle and characters like R2D2 and the Storm troopers, are iconic, but not registered as designs (at least not in Europe). There can be several reasons for not registering a design, but the requirement that a design is novel is often the main reason. Lucasfilm does own the trademark rights.
Like any other company owning a great deal of intellectual property, Lucasfilm has to stay on the alert. When a Chinese company filed an application in the European Union for a robot looking suspiciously similar to BB-8, Lucasfilm filed a cancellation action. Their action was not based on prior design rights, but on the claim that the Chinese design was not new and had no individual character.
First of all, both robots have a spherical body and a domed head. Also similar are the two antennae on the head, the two optical lenses that serve as eyes, the overall colour combination of orange with white, silver and black ornaments, and the round orange panels connected by joint lines on the body. In short, practically every design element is the same. The only differences the Chinese company could claim were the details on the round panels and the decoration on top of the head.
The European Trademark Office also found few differences in the two designs. The shape is the same, and while there are some minor differences, they do not outweigh the similarities. The Chinese company could have chosen any colour for their robot and so the use of an identical colour speaks volumes. The design was cancelled in a splendid victory for BB-8!
The BB-8 from Star Wars vs. the robot from the Chinese company
Author: Arnaud Bos
Bio: Arnaud is trademark attorney and within Knijff responsible for the marketing & communication. Arnaud is specialist in the metaverse and music sectors and his client portfolio includes many upcoming and renowned bands. He keeps a close eye on the latest case law in the EU and will let you know when he sees remarkable applications.