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Design patents are often overlooked when it comes to both obtaining protections and ensuring that others do not infringe on those protections once obtained. Yet design patents are an effective way to strengthen the intellectual property protections for a product, whether or not that product is also subject to utility patents. In a utility application, the claim is a written description, but in a design patent application, the design is described by drawings or photographs that conform to the USPTO rules. An inaccurate or poorly prepared drawing can result in a defective application, and you may not be able to get a patent. If the application is passed through, the USPTO will send a notice of allowance to the applicant's patent attorney. Similar to utility patents, an issue fee is also required to issue a design patent but is typically a third of the cost.
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Partial views intended to form one complete view, on one or several sheets, must be identified by the same number followed by a capital letter. View numbers must be preceded by the abbreviation "FIG." Where only a single view is used in an application to illustrate the claimed invention, it must not be numbered and the abbreviation "FIG." must not appear. The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee. This information includes the name (either person or juristic entity) and address of the assignee of the entire right, title, and interest in an application. Providing this information in the application data sheet does not substitute for compliance with any requirement of part 3 of this chapter to have an assignment recorded by the Office.
Apple wins new Design Patents for Apple Vision Pro covering it's optional over-head Strap, its Light Seal and more ... - Patently Apple
Apple wins new Design Patents for Apple Vision Pro covering it's optional over-head Strap, its Light Seal and more ....
Posted: Mon, 01 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
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A similar intellectual property right, a registered design, can be obtained in other countries. In Kenya, Japan, South Korea and Hungary, industrial designs are registered after performing an official novelty search. In the countries of the European Community, one needs to only pay an official fee and meet other formal requirements for registration (e.g. Community design at EUIPO, Germany, France, Spain). The disclosure must be amended, when required by the Office, to correct inaccuracies of description and definition, and to secure substantial correspondence between the claims, the remainder of the specification, and the drawings. (1) The different views must be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals, starting with 1, independent of the numbering of the sheets and, if possible, in the order in which they appear on the drawing sheet(s).
Other forms of protection
The USPTO STIC, in Alexandria, Virginia, offers scientific and technical books in various languages to the public . STIC holds science and technology periodicals, the official journals of 77 foreign patent organizations, and more than 40 million foreign patents on paper and electronically. We suggest a six-step strategy for preliminary searches of U.S. patents and published applications, using free online resources from us and our international partners. The Patent Public Search tool and Inventor Search Assistant are web-based search tools.
Designs that are independent or distinct must be filed in separate design patent applications. Two different designs will be considered independent when there is not an apparent relationship between the two items to which the designs apply. A design is distinct from another design of a related object if it has different shapes and appearances. When a single design concept has multiple embodiments or modified forms, a single application may be filed for the design. Getting a design patent doesn't prevent you from getting a utility patent, which protects the way an object works or how it is used. This use must be non-obvious and novel compared to earlier inventions in the industry (prior art).
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(B) the composition of matter, and the process at the time it was invented, were owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person. This Office action may also contain suggestions by the examiner for amendments to the application. Applicant should keep this Office action for his or her files, and not send it back to the Office. I, John Doe, have invented a new design for a jewelry cabinet, as set forth in the following specification. The claimed jewelry cabinet is used for storing jewelry and could sit on a bureau. The claimed jewelry cabinet is used to store jewelry and could sit on a bureau.
In countries where design applications undergo examination, such as Japan and the United States, it can take many months for filings to be processed and approved or denied. Samsung misinterpreted this design patent and ended up paying the price. The cunning move by Apple was to make the back of their design a dotted line – meaning it wouldn’t be covered by the design patent. If they wouldn’t have made that move, the different back of the Samsung smartphone design would have meant that the two models couldn’t be called ‘substantially similar’. The same is true of the circular home button and the upper front camera panel – if one of those had been included as solid lines in the patent, then the overall Samsung design probably wouldn’t have infringed upon the iPhone design patent. This is an excellent example of how to patent your design effectively to be sure that you keep competitors at bay.
As the drawing or photograph constitutes the entire visual disclosure of the claim, it is of utmost importance that the drawing or photograph be clear and complete, that nothing regarding the design sought to be patented is left to conjecture. The design drawing or photograph must comply with the disclosure requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph. To meet the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112, the drawings or photographs must include a sufficient number of views to constitute a complete disclosure of the appearance of the design claimed. Invention Development Organizations (IDO) are private and public consulting and marketing businesses that exist to help inventors bring their inventions to market, or to otherwise profit from their ideas. Be wary of any IDO that is willing to promote your invention or product without making a detailed inquiry into the merits of your idea and giving you a full range of options which may or may not include the pursuit of patent protection.
If, after receiving an Office action, applicant elects to continue prosecution of the application, a timely reply to the action must be submitted. This reply should include a request for reconsideration or further examination of the claim, along with any amendments desired by the applicant, and must be in writing. The reply must distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the Office action and must address every objection and/or rejection in the action. If the examiner has rejected the claim over prior art, a general statement by the applicant that the claim is patentable, without specifically pointing out how the design is patentable over the prior art, does not comply with the rules.
A comprehensive patent search would also include foreign patents and non-patent literature (newspapers, magazines, books, journals, dissertations, conference proceedings, government publications, and websites). Keep in mind that Los Angeles Public Library does not provide access to all prior art resources that are available to patent examiners. While the inquiry may seem straightforward enough, courts at the trial and appellate level alike have tried and largely failed to provide clarity and predictability as to whether a patented concept is abstract.
The drawings or photographs should contain a sufficient number of views to completely disclose the appearance of the claimed design, i.e., front, rear, right and left sides, top and bottom. While not required, it is suggested that perspective views be submitted to clearly show the appearance and shape of three-dimensional designs. If a perspective view is submitted, the surfaces shown would normally not be required to be illustrated in other views if these surfaces are clearly understood and fully disclosed in the perspective.
(1) Preamble, stating the name of the applicant, title of the design, and a brief description of the nature and intended use of the article in which the design is embodied. (1) A marked-up copy of any amended drawing figure, including annotations indicating the changes made, may be included. The marked-up copy must be clearly labeled as "Annotated Sheet" and must be presented in the amendment or remarks section that explains the change to the drawings. All of the claims presented in a claim listing shall be presented in ascending numerical order. Consecutive claims having the same status of "canceled" or "not entered" may be aggregated into one statement (e.g., Claims 1-5 (canceled)). The claim listing shall commence on a separate sheet of the amendment document and the sheet(s) that contain the text of any part of the claims shall not contain any other part of the amendment.
Like the design patent, the utility patent is a right of exclusion that prevents others from using, making, selling, or importing protected functions of the product (called claims). Utility patents provide stronger protection than design patents but require a longer, more costly application process. Just as including multiple features in one design application can unduly narrow the scope of the patent’s protection, so too can adding unnecessary details to any given feature in the application.
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