Similarity of design (Infringement case)
(Conclusion) Defendant’s design is not Similar to the registered design. (Design right owner lost.)
The essential feature of the registered design is a step which is provided in a manner that it projects nearly perpendicular to the side surface at the level around one-fourth of the height of the container body from the bottom of the long side of the container body and also becomes nearly perpendicular to the bottom.
The design of the Defendant’s Cell container also has a similar step, but such a step is not highly novel in consideration of publicly known designs; rather, the design of the Defendant’s Cell container has a prominent difference to which consumers pay attention in the configuration of its leg part.
<Writer: Hideki Takaishi (Attorney-at-law licensed in Japan and California)>
https://www.ip.courts.go.jp/app/files/hanrei_en/595/001595.pdf