Typefaces, as with any graphic creation, can benefit
from legal protection as long as they meet the relevant criteria
for IP protection, as Marine
Dissoubray explains.
Typography is both a graphic creation and – to a certain
extent – a distinctive sign, since it can form part of a
brand's visual identity. When they meet the required
conditions, fonts can be eligible for protection, therefore, under
copyright, design and even trademark law or related legal systems,
such as passing off and parasitism.
Copyright gives the creators of artistic works the exclusive
right to control the ways in which their creations may be used.
While it comes into being automatically on the creation of that
work in most jurisdictions, a font must still satisfy that
jurisdiction's requirements for originality to benefit from
copyright protection. It's important to specify here that it is
the original form given to the letter or character that will be
protected and not the letter
