Landmark Copyright Case on Computer User Interfaces

As Chinese courts rarely accept copyright disputes concerning computer user interfaces, the case of Shenzhen TP-LINK Technologies Co., Ltd vs. Shenzhen Tenda Technology Co., Ltd and Zhang Yabo (the "TP-LINK Case") represents a significant precedent in dealing with similar cases. It is highly controversial even for copyright or computer experts to answer questions such as whether computer user interfaces are under the protection of China's Copyright Law or how to judge originality of a work in the case.

1. Whether a router's user interface is under the protection of Copyright Law

   Based on Copyright Law principles, only expressions of ideas that have original characters are protected by Copyright Law, from which ideas themselves, crafts, operating methods and mathematical concepts are excluded. The idea-expression divide differentiates between ideas and expression, and states that copyright protects only the original expression of ideas, and not the