Impact Of EU Designs Implementing Regulation On Gaming

Video games contain various visual elements, interfaces, virtual environments, and digital objects which may have unique or creative designs that the creator would want to protect from copying. The aesthetic quality and arrangement of these elements, while not protectable via patents, can in many cases be protected via other intellectual property rights such as design rights. 

In the UK, legal provisions under the Registered Designs Act 1949 (“RDA”) already provided a strong basis for protection of the many visual, spatial and graphical elements in games. While the UK definition of “products” under the RDA has not been explicitly expanded to include non-physical or digital items (like in the EU), UK law already recognises “graphic symbols” and “typographic typefaces” as falling within its definition of a product. Many game assets (including icons, tool overlays, UI indicators, pointers, reticles and gesture icons, and GUIs) are considered as falling within the category of “graphic