數位時代的產品設計智慧財產權

Intellectual Property of Product Design in the Digital Era

對企業而言，網際網路除了提供與顧客溝通的管道外，更是通往世界各地的一個行銷通路，有利於傳遞產品訊息或服務。由於設計師普遍將電腦應用在設計過程中，再加上網際網路在商業活動中的潛力，使得以往用傳統媒體所進行的產品設計業務，也大量地電腦化，由具象的實體，轉變成電腦中的數位資料。由於數位資料可以大量複製的特性，使得智慧財產權的所有人與使用者間的關係，受到了極大的挑戰，許多傳統媒體的智慧財產權，都在新的數位媒體科技不斷的創新下，重新被詮釋與界定。因此，對於台灣的產品設計公司而言，在邁向電子商務的過程中，勢必要針對將來以數位形式存在的設計智慧財產權，重新檢視其價值，才能以數位形態的思考方式，開創出新的機會。本文即針對此一新興的網路應用趨勢，來探討台灣的產品設計公司，透過網際網路來進行商業活動的現況，並試著探討智慧財產權在產品設計數位化過程中所扮演的角色、如何落實保障設計成果的智慧財產權、及電子商務對產品設計公司所可能帶來的衝擊，以喚起台灣的設計公司對網路應用的重視，進而建立在未來的網路世界中，設計公司與客戶間的新關係。

The Internet can provide businesses with not only a channel to communicate with customers, but also a marketing gateway to every place in the world. It is advantageous to the delivery of product information or services. Because of the widely use of computers by designers to the design process and the potential of the Internet for business activities, traditional media-based product design practices are now largely computerized. They are transformed from physical entities into digital data in computers. The characteristic that digital data can be copied in a large quantity challenges immensely the relationship between owners and users of intellectual properties. Intellectual properties of many traditional media are reinterpreted and redefined by the constant innovation of new digital media technologies. Therefore, in the process of introducing electronic commerce, Taiwan's product design consultancies have to reconsider the values of design intellectual properties that exist in digital forms, in order to develop new opportunities under the thinking pattern of digital frameworks. This paper is based on the recognition of the new trend of the Internet application, to explore the present situation of the use of the Internet by Taiwan's design consultancies to their business activities. The main issues are the role played by intellectual properties in the process of product design digitalization, the workable protection of intellectual properties of design results, and possible impacts of electronic commerce on product design consultancies. It is hoped that Taiwan' design consultancies can realize the importance of the Internet application and establish new relationship with their clients in the future world of the Internet.