Is UX Copyrightable?

Question

After the recent "Look and Feel" Apple vs Samsung lawsuits, I've been wondering to what extent this might affect websites/webapps that offer functionality similar to other existing sites.

So what exactly would one have to be wary of to make sure they don't step on the toes of a big corporation?

I could see carbon copying a companies website/app (especially if it's a very distinctive product) being a bad practice that could get you some backlash, especially blatantly ripping off iconic terminology, but how similar is too similar?

Does the ten-foot rule apply to the web?

“If a reasonable person could not, at ten feet, tell the difference between two competitive products, then there was cause to believe an infringement was occurring.”

Or is there a separate legal precedent associated with the web?

And then where does feel, which is essentially the common term for UX, come in. Can you patent the way a website "feels", as in the flow, organization and functionality associated. I understand that you can't patent basic elements like radio buttons, but what about the layout and look of a large number of those elements used in combination to complete a certain action/s?

I know that the online shopping cart is still a bit of a Sword of Damocles for online retailers.

Where is the line drawn for website/webapp copyright infringement? Or is there even a line drawn yet?

Answer 1

Apple uses the legal concept of 'trade dress' to argue for look and feel infringements in which one could argue that UX (or, more specifically, UI) can come in to play.

Alas, there aren't any particular clear rules. IP law is gray, and often determined by those with the most lawyers. Add to it things like modern US patent law, for example, where it is getting to the point of being absurd when it comes to granting protection to software concepts.

So, in the end, it's less about what you are doing and who you are doing it to. Don't copy from Apple if, in turn, your company demands royalties from Apple for patents you own.

The 'line' isn't drawn up by a standards committee, but rather by the whims of corporate legal departments on a case by case basis.

Answer 2

I presume you mean "is UX protectable in its own right", whether by copyright or trademark or any other means?

In the US certain user experiences in software are patented. Naturally they must be novel and an invention in their own rights, but the famous kinetic scroll/elastic snapback behaviour the iPhone used was patented (I'm on my phone so it's a hassle to look it up now, but it should be fairly easy to find).

Since UX isn't generally able to be isolated from the problem it's solving I guess any software UX is as much protected by copyright as the software itself.

But in case you can't tell, I am not a lawyer!