ALISTAIR HAMILTON
Chartered Patent Attorney
European Patent Attorney
Registered Trade Mark Attorney

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

NEWS

Apple appeal confirms registrability of computer icons

Apple Computer Inc has succeeded in an appeal against refusal of a design application to register icons that appear on the screen of a computer when it is switched on.  These are not application icons, but icons that are part of the factory-installed operating system to indicate the progress of the boot process.  In addition, Apple has been granted registrations for dialog boxes on a computer screen.   This clearly shows that computer display elements are registrable under past and present legislation.

Using the Patent Office designs search system to search in the name of Apple Computer gives an indication of the type of design that can now be protected. (Tips: when searching, you must change the content of the "Combination" drop-down box to "Proprietor". Some of the thumbnail views are pretty poor. Also, the system is slow!)

What these give Apple is the right to stop others using dialog boxes and icons in their software that are the same or not substantially different from those that appear in the registrations.

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