On Wednesday, 26 March 2025, the 48th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) continued discussions on graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
KEI’s detailed comments can be found here: SCT_48 2025, March
KEI Statement at SCT/48, March 26, 2025
The Africa Group proposal for a Study on the Impact of Design Protection for Graphical User Interface (GUI) Designs on Innovation is welcome, and should include a discussion of the importance of standards.
Standardized graphical user interfaces are very important for medical devices, to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities, to reduce the costs of developing products or training users. Standards are important for reducing the anti-competitive lock-in that happens when it is costly and confusing to switch from one product or service to another.
Standards are essential to enable better interoperability between different systems and devices. For example, a standardized approach to data entry and retrieval across platforms can help in maintaining data integrity and ensuring smooth operation across ecosystems.
KEI is happy to share with delegates a memo with some more detailed comments on the relationship between standards and IP protection on the graphical user interfaces.