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THE NEXUS BETWEEN ARCHITECTURAL WORK, INTERIOR DESIGNS, AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Publications, Research paper
ABSTRACT

In this world of creativity, innovation, inventiveness, the nexus between architectural work, interior design, and intellectual property is quite multifaceted. As the fields of architecture and interior design evolve the significance and the role of intellectual property in safeguarding such rights becomes paramount. In this 21st century IP rights play a vital role in trade of every nation as there stands a higher risk of creative ideas getting stolen without the consent and permission of the author. Intellectual property is a generic term meaning which defines intangible assets that are owned by an individual or a company, and acts as a source of security for these intangible properties which can be easily replicated by anyone. The article delves into the challenges and opportunities faced by architects and interior designers in safeguarding their intellectual creations, navigating issues such as originality, infringement, and the balance between artistic expression and legal constraints.

KEY WORDS: Original creation, exclusive rights, intellect. Safeguard, etc.

INTRODUCTION
  • Field of architecture and interior design: The field of architecture and interior design are marked by creativity, inventiveness, imagination, and the creation of spaces. This usually reflects upon the vision and expertise of designers and architects. Both Architecture and Interior design are the professions that combine artistry, creativity, imagination and functionality to make the spaces creative, inventive and beautifully aesthetic. If we were to find out the main difference between these two then it would be that, architecture is the designing of buildings, whereas interior design is the designing of the interior of the building.
  • Intellectual property: Whereas on the other hand Intellectual property, very broadly, means the legal property which results from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific and artistic fields. Countries have laws to protect intellectual property for two main reasons. One is to give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights of creators in their creations and such rights of the public in access to those creations. The second is to promote, as a deliberate act of government policy, creativity and the dissemination and application of its results and to encourage fair trading which would contribute to economic and social development. Generally speaking, IP law aims at safeguarding creators and other producers of intellectual goods and services by granting them certain time- limited rights to control the use

made of those productions. These rights do not apply to the physical object in which the creation may be embodied but instead to the intellectual creation as such. IP is traditionally divided into two branches: “industrial property and copyright”

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: The paper is descriptive and relies on detailed information from primary as well as secondary sources, focusing on providing data relating the relationship of Intellectual property with Architecture and Interior Design.

SCOPE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

The acronym IPR stands for Intellectual Property Rights. To start with the meaning of this term lets first understand the meaning of the individual words, the word “Property” in literal terms means anything owned by a person or entity. The outstanding feature is that the owner can use his property as he wish and can even restrict its use by any other person. On the other hand the word Intellectual comes from the word Intellect which basically means the use of mind. This leads us to the meaning of the term Intellectual Property, which means, creations of mind.

WIPO ( World Intellectual Property Organisation), however does not give us the formal definition of this term, instead the convention gave a list of works including;

Literary artistic and scientific works; performances of performing artists, phonograms, and broadcasts; inventions in all fields of human endeavor; scientific discoveries; industrial designs; trademarks, service marks, and commercial names and designations; protection against unfair competition; and “all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.”

What constitutes the concept of intellectual property rights is human intellectuality, human creation, basically what is human made. Intellectual property, “was originally designed to cover ownership of literary and artistic works, inventions (patents) and trademarks”. What is protected in intellectual property is the form of the work, the invention, the relationship between a symbol and a business.

TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Copyrights: Copyrights protect the literary and the artistic creation, it is governed by the, Indian Copyright Act, 1957. The protection is granted for the lifetime of an author and 60 years after death.
  2. Patent: Patent is a right granted to the owner for his invention. It is not an obvious derivation of the prior art (It should involve an inventive step). A person who has got a patent right has an exclusive right. The exclusive right is a true monopoly but its grant involves an administrative process. The protection is granted for a limited period of 20 years in India and is governed by the Indian Patent Act, 1970.
  3. Trademark: A trademark is a distinctive sign which is used to distinguish the products or services of one business from others. Trademarks are often closely linked to brands. The protection is granted for 10 year on a renewable basis, governed under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.1 (Kenton, 2023; Kenton, 2023)
  4. Design: Protects the form of outward appearance or aesthetic style of an object. Does not protect functionality or unseen (internal) design elements. Trademarks are granted for 10 years, and are governed by the Design Act, 2000.
  5. GI( Geographical Indication): It is indications on products of the geographic origin of the goods. It indicates the general source. The indication relates to the quality or reputation or other characteristics of the good. Geographical Indication is granted for a period of 10 years on a renewable basis, and governed by the, Geographical Act, 1999
  6. Semiconductor and Integrated Circuits Layout Design: Semiconductor integrated circuits means a product having transistors and other circuitry elements, which are inseparably formed on any semiconductor material. Whereas the Layout of the semiconductor integrated circuits means the layout of transitory and other circuitry elements including wires connecting such elements and expressed in any manner of semiconductor integrated circuits. It is governed by the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits And Layout Design, 2000.2 (Dubey, 2024)
THE NEXUS

Intellectual property in recent times is having quite a profound identity for itself. It offers so many rights , copyright for that matter protects the creative expressions of architects and interior designers. It grants exclusive rights to the creators and even more exclusive rights if you get your work registered. Copyright registration procedure in India allows architects to protect their original creations. In addition, India is a member to the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, which means that works protected in other Berne signatory nations are automatically protected in India. Architectural firms and interior designers often rely on trademarks to safeguard their brand identity. Trademarks protect not only the logos but also the specific designs. If an architect or designer creates a unique and innovative furniture design or architectural component, they may seek design patents to protect these features from being copied. IP infringement would be a real concern for the architects and the interior designers. However as they are granted some exclusive rights they can take serious action against the infringer.

1 https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/intellectualproperty.asp

2

https://www.mondaq.com/india/technology/28601/semiconductor-integrated-circuits-layout-design-in-indian- ip-regime

If you read in the morning paper that a company decided to let its main competitor sell duplicate copies of its bestselling products, but did not receive any royalties whatsoever in exchange, wouldn’t you suspect there was a misprint in that paper? As outrageous as this may sound it’s a true fact that designers, architects and virtually any person or entity that makes a living based upon the creative products or services they provide may simply be giving their most valuable asset away and may not even know it. You may ask what the ‘most valuable asset’ is. Well the simplest answer to this question is your creativity, talents and genius works.

A famous judgement of whether “interior design” is protected by copyright remains controversial. In Intellectual Property Court’s (“IP Court”) Judgment No. Min-She-Su-Zi-32 rendered in 2018, the IP Court held that if an interior design including the interior design plans and the completed physical objects created based on the interior design plans (the overall expression of interior design) is an original creation, it belongs to the category of “other architectural works” and enjoys the same protection as an architectural work under the Taiwan Copyright Act.

PRESERVING ARCHITECTURAL INTENGUITY

Today infringement of any aesthetic, original creation is protected under various statutes governed by IPR, in the same way the protection of architectural work is an issue that requires a thoughtful understanding so as to provide it protection when they are distributed, produced, publically displayed etc.

THE BERNE CONVENTION

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually referred to as the Berne convention is an international assembly, established in 1886 in the city of Bern, with a primary goal of protecting the original work. Currently the treaty has 177 signatories including India. Over the years the convention has expanded the scope of ‘protected works’ to include architecture.

According to Article 2(1) of the Berne convention, all the member countries are to protect the works of “architecture”, “three dimensional works related to architecture”, and “ any other works related to architecture”. A “work of architecture” is defined under the Berne Convention only as one that is “integrated in a building or other structure,” but the convention does not specify what constitutes a “work of architecture”. Whereas the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has incorporated the Convention’s mandate related to architectural copyright protection without providing further details about what constitutes a work of architecture.3 (Rastogi, 2023)

INDIAN LEGISLATIONS

3 https://www.candcip.com/single-post/architectural-works-in-the-intellectual-property-regime

□ The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 includes architecture work as well as the work related to architecture.

What do you mean by copyright?

Copyright (or author’s right) is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings. It is governed under the “Indian Copyright Act, 1957”

Protection to the architecture under Copyright legislation:

  • Section 2(b) “work of architecture” means any building or structure having as artistic character or design, or any model for such building or structure;
  • section 2(c) : “artistic work” means,— (i)a painting, a sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, map, chart or plan), an engraving or a photograph, whether or not any such work possesses artistic quality;
    1. a ‘work of architecture; and
    2. any other work of artistic craftsmanship;4 (Kanoon)

As per section 22 of the Copyright Act 1957, such copyright is valid for a period of 60 years which starts from the beginning of the next calendar year following the year the author dies. Therefore the architecture work including the building, the structure and design of such a building are protected by the copyright act under the ambit of the artistic work. The only point to be noted here is that the work must be an original creation and not a copied one. Therefore the author of the architecture i.e. the architect can gain the authorship as well as the ownership over his work. In case of infringement the architect can sue the infringer as well be compensated for the loss he has sustained due to the

infringement by way of injunction. However Section 13(5) of the Copyright Act states

that “work of architecture copyright shall subsist only in the artistic character and design and shall not extend to process or methods of construction”. That is rights of the architecture shall extend only to the design and not the constructional work per se.

□ The Design Act, 2000 also protect s the architectural work.

As per the Designs Act, 2000, a ‘Design’ means only the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament or composition of lines or colour or combination thereof applied to any article whether two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or means, whether manual, mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye, but does not include any mode or principle or construction or any thing which is in substance a mere mechanical device, and does not include any trademark or copyright.

4 https://indiankanoon.org/doc/797096/

So at times there might be conflict as to whether the work related to architecture be protected under the Copyright Act of 1957 or Designs Act of 2000. In such scenarios if the owner of the artistic work has registered the work under the Design Act then it said work cannot be protected under the ambit of the Copyright Act. However to qualify under the copyright act, the design must be registered along with being a new and original creation5 (Agarwal, 2021)

.

“SECURING CREATIVITY: IPR IN INTERIOR DESIGN”

In the world of interior designing, creative expression and intellectual property plays a significant role. Interior designers put their heart and soul into designing for their clients and therefore it becomes essential to protect the rights of such interior designers. Intellectual property rights are mainly divided in 2 parts – Copyrights and Industrial property. Interior design comes under the ambit of industrial property.

Copyrights usually protect the original and artistic creations. In its essence copyrights safeguards the following physical elements that represent an interior design

  • illustrations
  • photographs
  • sculptural models
  • interior architectural plans
  • design sketches and drawings
  • 3-D renderings and digital drafts
  • fabric prints & jacquard weaves
  • wallpaper designs
  • original written proposals6 (Canas, 2024)

When an interior designer creates such a tangible medium of ideas, copyrights automatically extend protection. However copyright does not protect the interior designing ideas such as positioning of furniture, lightning, the painting for that matter. The moment the designer creates an original work in a fixed form – whether on paper or in digital form – the designer automatically gets the rights to display, distribute and modify the work.

Why is it important to protect interior design under copyright?

  1. To safeguard the originality and creative expression of an interior designer.

5

https://ijpiel.com/index.php/2021/12/15/copyright-protection-to-architectural-works-and-trademark-protectio n-to-buildings-under-the-indian-regime/

6 https://www.idlawshop.com/interior-design-law-blog/copyright-for-interior-designs

  1. It also provides interior designers with the flexibility to limit and customize the rights they grant to others to use their works; and
  2. The designer gets to use the exclusive right granted to him in case of infringement.

By availing these legal averments, an interior designer can ensure that his creative work and distinctive brand elements are given maximum protection in a competitive industry.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

The last two decades have seen a humongous explosion of technological advancement rather than technological outburst, making it easier for one to access information, including intellectual property easily from one part of the world to another, this has created new pathways and of course challenges in the scope of intellectual property rights. As it is well known that countries usually recognise the work created by an author that is by a human-mind, but if the same would have been created by artificial intelligence would it be protected the same way as if it were created by a human? Although AI itself is a human made creation yet it makes one think about what would it be like when the artificial intelligence takes over the human mind, will the intellectuality of human creation come to an end?

“Intellectual property has a shelf life of a banana” -Bill Gates

The harmonious relation between the architectural work, interior design and intellectual property is dynamic and an ever evolving one that lies at the heart of the creative and commercial aspect of the industry . In the realm of architectural and interior design, copyright stands as a guardian of meticulously drafted plans, elevations, and design schemes. The importance of IP cannot be overstated.

Intellectual property safeguards the ingenuity, innovation, and originality that architects and interior designers bring to our built environments. It is a system that both protects the rights of creators and stimulates further creativity. Therefore we can conclude by saying that IP is essential for harnessing the protection for both the architectural as well as the interior design, and plays an intricate role forming a correlation among them.

CITATIONS
  1. Agarwal, K. B. (2021, December 15). IJPIEL. Retrieved March 12, 2024, from IJPIEl: https://ijpiel.com/index.php/2021/12/15/copyright-protection-to-architectural-works-and-tr ademark-protection-to-buildings-under-the-indian-regime/
  1. Canas, E. (2024, February 10). ID Law Shop. Retrieved March 13, 2024, from ID Law Shop: https://www.idlawshop.com/interior-design-law-blog/copyright-for-interior-designs
  1. Dubey, R. (2024, September 24). India: Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design In Indian IP Regime. Mondaq, 10.
  1. Kanoon, I. (n.d.). Indian Kanoon. Retrieved from Indian kanoon: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/797096/
  1. Kenton, W. (2023, October 6). Investopedia. Retrieved March 14, 2024, from Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/intellectualproperty.asp
  1. Rastogi, A. (2023). Architectural Works in the Intellectual Property Regime. Architectural Works in the Intellectual Property Regime, 10.
NAME: VAIBHAVI KATHARE

COLLEGE: P.E.S MODERN LAW COLLEGE, PUNE