德国外观设计法

（节选译文）

Part 1 

 Protection requirements  

Section 1  

Definitions  

For the purposes of this Act, 

1. “design” means the two-dimensional or three-dimensional appearance of the whole or  a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours,  shape, texture or materials of the product itself or its ornamentation;  

2. “product” means any industrial or handicraft item, including packaging, get-up, graphic  symbols, typographic typefaces and parts intended to be assembled into a complex  product, but excluding computer programs;  

3. “complex product” means a product which is composed of multiple components which  can be replaced permitting disassembly and reassembly of the product;  

4. “normal use” means use by the end user, excluding maintenance, servicing or repair;  

5. the right holder is deemed to be the holder of the registered design as recorded in the  Design Register.

Section 2  

Design protection

(1) A design shall be protected as a registered design if it is new and has individual  character.  

(2) A design shall be deemed to be new if no identical design was disclosed prior to the date  of filing of the application. Designs shall be deemed to be identical if their features differ only  in immaterial details.  

(3) A design shall have individual character if the overall impression it produces on the  informed user differs from the overall impression produced on such a user by any design  which has been disclosed prior to the date of filing of the application. In assessing individual  character, the degree of freedom of the designer in developing the design shall be taken into  consideration.  

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