Feasibility of Overlapping between Copyright and Industrial Designs in Iran's Legal System

Copyright and industrial designs in Iran's legal system are supported by the legislator in the two main branches of intellectual property rights, i.e. literary and artistic property and industrial property, and exclusive rights are created for their owners to exploit intellectual achievements. Sometimes intellectual creations are placed in a position that they have the ability to be supported in two or more protection systems in terms of the existence of the necessary conditions for legal protection. One of the notable examples in this field, which is the subject of the current research, is the support of intellectual achievement in the form of copyright and industrial designs, When in the design of a product, elegance, beauty and creativity are manifested in the design, which also benefits from the aspect of originality and novelty, and the question arises as to which of the above formats can better secure the rights of its creator. Considering the various views regarding the possibility of aggregating applicable rights in each form of protection, the current research with an analytical-descriptive approach aims to address the questions that can be raised in this field with regard to the relevant laws of Iran and scrutiny in related sources. And finally, the result is that overlapping is not completely possible, but under legal conditions and conditions, partial enjoyment of some rights and privileges is conceivable at the same time, while many jurists believe in complete separation.