Design patent application guide
Table Of Content
International filings are an economical way to expand IP protections, but submitting separate applications in every country or region where you do the most business is still your best bet. In countries like Canada, China, India, South Africa and the United States, the exclusive rights to your design can be maintained for up to 15 years. Other jurisdictions, including the European Union, United Kingdom, Brazil and Japan, allow up to 25 years of protection. These maximum durations may require renewals or extensions, typically occurring at five-year intervals.
Design Patents 101: Understanding Utility Patents’ Lesser-Known Cousin
When deciding what to place in solid lines, it is helpful to understand the logic of determining the scope of protection that may be afforded in a design patent. The design patent will be composed of drawings of the patented design which define the scope of the design patent protection. It is difficult to understand which features should be placed in solid lines and which should not without understanding how to determine the scope of protection afforded under the design patent. Most replies to an office action (official letters) must be received within six months from the mailing date on the action.
Key Terms in Patent Law
For a newly found plant, the oath or declaration must also state that the plant was found in a cultivated area. A Plant Patent Application Declaration, Form PTO/AIA/09 or PTO/AIA/03, may be used for a declaration. A plant patent application is permitted to be filed at the USPTO via Patent Center.
The Design Patent Application Process
If you are an independent inventor or a small entity, the fees are halved. The jury must determine whether infringement exists by looking at the product in question compared to the design patent. If market confusion could potentially exist, infringement is likely. Expert testimony is not considered since these individuals can distinguish very specific details that may not be evident to the consumer. When you are granted a design patent, you have the right to exclude others from using this design in personal and commercial applications.
After your reply, the application will be reconsidered, and you will be notified about the status of the claims (that is, whether the claims are rejected or objected to, or allowed, in the same manner as after the first examination). Compliance with paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2), or (c) of this section is not required. The two types of shading commonly employed in design patent application drawings are straight-line surface shading and stippling.
Global Design Database
For this reason, the design patent application should usually be filed as close to the product’s launch date as possible so that the drawings can reflect any last-minute changes made to the product’s design. Patent laws provide for the granting of design patents to anyone who has invented a new, original ornamental design for an article of manufacture. The ornamental characteristics must be embodied in or applied to such an article. The subject matter may relate to the configuration or shape of an article, surface ornamentation applied to it, or the combination of both.
Hatching must be used to indicate section portions of an object, and must be made by regularly spaced oblique parallel lines spaced sufficiently apart to enable the lines to be distinguished without difficulty. Hatching should not impede the clear reading of the reference characters and lead lines. If it is not possible to place reference characters outside the hatched area, the hatching may be broken off wherever reference characters are inserted. Hatching must be at a substantial angle to the surrounding axes or principal lines, preferably 45°.
Patent holders must submit these fees and forms by their filing date or risk losing their patent protection. A design consists of the visual ornamental characteristics embodied in, or applied to, an article of manufacture. A design for surface ornamentation is inseparable from the article to which it is applied and cannot exist alone.
2023 Design Patents Year in Review: Analysis & Trends: PTAB: Design Patents for GUI Interface Cancelled in AIA ... - JD Supra
2023 Design Patents Year in Review: Analysis & Trends: PTAB: Design Patents for GUI Interface Cancelled in AIA ....
Posted: Fri, 09 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
How do you obtain design protection?
Photographs, including photocopies, are not ordinarily permitted in utility and design patent applications. They will only be permitted if they are the only practical medium for illustrating the claimed invention. Color photographs will be accepted if the conditions for accepting color drawings and black-and-white photographs have been satisfied. Design patent claims can only apply to one specific design concept, while multiple designs that are considered to be independent and distinct from one another must be filed as separate requests.
Exploded views, with the separated parts embraced by a bracket, to show the relationship or order of assembly of various parts are permissible. When an exploded view is shown in a figure, which is on the same sheet as another figure, the exploded view should be placed in brackets. (b) The Director shall prescribe regulations to provide for the continued examination of applications for patent at the request of the applicant. The Director may establish appropriate fees for such continued examination and shall provide a 50 percent reduction in such fees for small entities that qualify for reduced fees under section 41(h)(1) of this title. (C) the application for patent for the claimed invention discloses or is amended to disclose the names of the parties to the joint research agreement. If applicant changes his or her mailing address after filing an application, the Office must be notified in writing of the new address.
Each sheet must be reasonably free from erasures and must be free from alterations, overwritings, and interlineations. Photographs must be developed on paper meeting the sheet-size requirements of paragraph (f) of this section and the margin requirements of paragraph (g) of this section. See paragraph (b) of this section for other requirements for photographs. Identifying indicia, if provided, should include the title of the invention, inventor's name, and application number, or docket number (if any) if an application number has not been assigned to the application. If this information is provided, it must be placed on the front of each sheet and centered within the top margin.
The invention must not have been or become the subject of an application filed in a foreign country requiring publication 18 months after filing (or earlier claimed priority date) or under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Drawings are required to be filed when necessary to understand the subject matter of the patent sought. This generally includes all inventions except compositions of matter or processes, though drawings may be useful with many processes. That said, you probably won't get a patent if you don't include a drawing. Design patent applications rely on drawings to show what the design will look like. However, you should file it as soon as possible to protect your rights.
A design patent protects appearance of the the finished product, and possibly the components of the product. The Apple iPhone and the Coca-Cola bottle are widely known examples of products protected by design patents. While the precise protections available under design and utility patents vary, design patents are significantly less costly to obtain and maintain and can garner increased damages. They are also easier to enforce in numerous respects, ranging from claim construction, to infringement and validity analyses, to calculating damages.
The text of any deleted subject matter must be shown by being placed within double brackets if strike-through cannot be easily perceived. Only claims having the status of "currently amended," or "withdrawn" if also being amended, shall include markings. If a withdrawn claim is currently amended, its status in the claim listing may be identified as "withdrawn- currently amended." All drawings must be made by a process, which will give them satisfactory reproduction characteristics.
These actions almost always shorten the period within which a response can be filed without paying extension-of-time fees. The shortened period is typically either two or three months, depending on the type of office action. Interviews with examiners enable you to discuss and resolve issues, being an effective tool to advance prosecution of an application. The USPTO encourages proactive communication from examiners in order to shorten the prosecution process.
We take the time to learn as much as possible about your idea and your goals. Then we guide you through the types and intellectual property ownership and protection can help you achieve those goals. If patent owners believe an infringement has occurred, they must seek legal counsel with an expert in patent law. Infringement cases are decided in Federal court, where the patent is analyzed. In addition, the patent owner must show how the infringer violated the patent claim scope of their patent. Finally, the defendant will attempt to show how their product falls outside of the claim scope of the particular patent in question.
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