Design patent

In the United States, a design patent is a patent granted on the unique appearance or concept of an item. Designs patents are a type of industrial design right. Design patents typically apply i.a. to jewelry, furniture, and other items with substantial decorative features.

In the rest of the world, it is simply referred as a registered design and it is registered either after performing an official novelty search (as e.g. in Japan, South Korea, Hungary, the United Kingdom, and former Countries of the Commonwealth) or after the payment of the official fees and dealing with the formal requirements for registration (e.g. Community Design at OHIM, Germany, France, Spain) or after registration at WIPO and examination by the designated member states International Design in accordance with the Hague Agreement and the Geneva ACT Modification.

Protections

Design patents provide a broader protection than copyright, as similar (non-identical) designs are considered to infringe upon a patented design. Unlike a utility patent, the protected features do not have to be a functional part of the item. For example, assume that the idea of a cigarette lighter shaped like a handgun were something new to the world. The creative designer who came up with this concept could rely on copyright to protect the design, which would restrain competitors from making handgun-shaped lighters that are very similar in appearance; however, a very differently-shaped handgun lighter could still be made without infringing on the designer's work. A design patent would restrain competitors from making any handgun-shaped lighters at all.

History

In 1842, George Bruce was awarded the first design patent for fonts.

See also

• Industrial design rights
• Intellectual property organizations
• Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, Designs (OHIM) (European Union)
• Patent