Learn in the textbookThe Copyright Act and the Industrial Property Right Laws
DefinitionThe Utility Model Act (実用新案法) protects improvements in the shape, structure, or combination of physical articles (devices, 考案).
ExplanationA device need not be as advanced as a patentable invention, but methods or programs not tied to an article are not covered. Once filed, it is registered without a substantive examination of novelty or similar points (registration without examination, 無審査主義). The right lasts 10 years from filing.
Memory hook実用 means making everyday tools handier, and 新案 means a new idea. Link the name to clever changes in the shape of tools, that is, articles.