The Conundrum Of Protectability Of Graphical User Interface Under The Aegis Of Present Ipr Regime

Suhail Khan, Jamia Millia Islamia

ABSTRACT

Graphical User Interface (GUI) is the visual component that is responsible for the interaction of user and system. The first GUI emerged in 1970 when the Xerox Corporation created the GUI of Alto, the computer. It was soon followed by Apple’s Macintosh and Microsoft’s Windows. In the 1990s, whereby India was going through a gradual revamp of its Intellectual Property regime and GUI as an intellectual property sought protection. The problem arose when it was observed that it found protection as both Copyright whereby the provisions were not known but Ministry of Electronics and Technology indicated on the same and under the Designs Act, 2000 and the Design Rules, 2001 which in the class 14-04 of Third Schedule gave protection. The shift in positions, approach of Design Controller in the determination of Amazon design application, rationale behind it and what is the most apt protection, copyright or design with reference to the interpretation of ‘article’ and ‘design’ in the Designs Act, 2000 finds relevance in this research. The Copyright Act, 1957 discusses no provisions for protection of GUI but in the previous United States (U.S.) cases, where GUIs were registered as copyright, viz. Apple Computers v. Microsoft Corporation, the approach had been found to be lackluster. The tests of look and feel that assessed the concept and feel were given the utmost trust and the case of Maraekat Infotech Ltd. v. Mr. Naylesh V. Kothari & Ors. laid the groundwork for the possible protection discussing the design features that would be considered for examination. A viability of enquiry into the Abstraction-Filtration Comparison, which is a test of the U.S. jurisdiction, is also to be seen in the Indian context. On the comparative front, the positions of U.S. with reference to Strijland case and the European Union (E.U.) position whereby the relevant Community Design Regulations are put forth and Australian Regime of Designs Act, 2003 is also examined along with its provisions of registering and enforcing the same. This is followed by the case studies on select case laws, suggestions and recommendations of the author and conclusion.