Can interior decoration be protected by design patent?

Can interior decoration be protected by design patent? With the development of social economy and the improvement of living standard, the content and object of design are expanding, and interior decoration design is also paid more and more attention. China National Intellectual Property Administration has received patent applications for architectural interiors and automotive interiors, which reflects the public's demand for the protection of such items. For this kind of design, there are certain restrictions through copyright law and anti-unfair competition law. So can it be protected by the design patent? Can interior decoration be regarded as the appearance design of products? Does its design of the relative position of parts conform to the definition of appearance design in the patent law? Can interior decoration be effectively protected through design patents? Positive view 1, from the necessity point of view: First, market participants have demand for intellectual property protection of interior decoration. Searching for interior decoration in China's refereeing documents online, the number of refereeing documents in 20 16 years increased by 60.6% compared with that in 20 15 years, and increased by 24.5% in 20 17 years compared with 20 16 years. It can be seen that the judicial cases related to interior decoration show an obvious growth trend. Taking the automobile interior as an example, its workload accounts for more than 60% of the whole vehicle design, far exceeding the automobile shape, and the innovators have a strong desire to protect such products. Secondly, the advantages of protecting interior decoration through patent law have not been fully exerted. Although the anti-unfair competition law and copyright law can protect the interior decoration design of products to a certain extent, the patent law has the advantages of strong exclusiveness, easy proof and high efficiency in safeguarding rights. However, because the current patent law does not explicitly protect the whole interior decoration, the applicant wants to obtain the protection of the design patent, and usually can only split it into individual products that are protected separately in the interior decoration, which makes the advantages of the patent law unable to give full play. 2. From the perspective of rationality: First of all, it is in line with the legislative purpose of the Patent Law to bring interior decoration into the protection scope of design patents. Product interior decoration is the result of designer's mental work and the embodiment of designer's innovative ability. Protect and encourage the legislative purpose in line with the patent law. Secondly, the inclusion of interior decoration in the protection scope of design patents conforms to the provisions of the Patent Law on design. On the one hand, the design process and design object of interior decoration are the same as products in the sense of patent law. On the other hand, if the interior decoration meets three conditions, namely (1) each component is physically connected with the interior space of the product, and the positional relationship is fixed; (2) All components are decorative as a whole, and they are not misplaced or misplaced; (3) If the internal space has a clear and complete boundary, it can be regarded as an appearance design, which conforms to the provisions of Article 31, paragraph 2, of the Patent Law on oneness. Finally, the means, ideas, methods and theories of protecting innovation achievements need to be constantly updated and upgraded. From the perspective of development, it is an approach to keep pace with the times to include interior decoration in the protection scope of design patents. To sum up, it is necessary and reasonable for interior decoration to be protected by design patent, and it should be protected by design patent.