Form vs Function: Protecting IP in GUIs and Software Design

Director Ivy Clarice Estoesta will speak on the “Form vs Function: Protecting IP in GUIs and Software Design” panel during the 20
22 IPO Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, CA. The panel will occur on Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. PT and is organized by the Industrial Designs and Software-Related Inventions Committees.

Panel Overview

There’s an app for everything. From electronics to mechanics, software applications provide insight and control into all aspects of modern life. As software continues to proliferate, driving improvements in the physical world and opening new virtual worlds for human interaction, protecting it has become more difficult. This session will provide an overview of the various IP protection strategies that can apply to software interfaces (GUIs). Panelists will discuss how strategies interrelate, how they differ, and how the degree of functionality associated with the interface impacts the available type(s) of protection. Focusing on issues related to functionality, the panelists will explore how too little, or too much, functionality affects options for IP protection.