Industrial Designs: Protecting Graphical User Interfaces – A Primer for Social Media Entrepreneurs

This post is directed to entrepreneurs and developers who are building platforms incorporating features of social media networks, or building their own social media technologies, regarding design protection requirements in Canada. Several practice notices have been issued very recently by the Canadian Industrial Design Office, providing guidance on designs including colour and animated graphical user interfaces (GUIs), among others.

Often, the ornamental design elements of GUIs help drive customer engagement, providing the offering with eye-pleasing layouts, interfaces, and interactive objects that help, for example, guide a user's behavior or simply provide a sleek and streamlined experience. Platforms with poor usability and cluttered layouts have a hard time differentiating themselves in the market.  For example, the platform may utilize customized GUI interfaces and design elements (e.g., icons) that contribute to an overall "allure" of a product or service.