Patent Types: Design Patent vs Utility Patent
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Design patents are important when a product's appearance plays a key factor in its success. Anything shown gains protection once the government grants the patent claim. If you're lucky enough to get a utility patent, you'll pay $515 to file your claim and $720 for the patent itself. 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.
When to File Both a Design Patent Application and a Utility Patent Application
That said, for design patents, inventors are not required to pay any maintenance fees. Both a utility patent and a design patent are used to protect the intellectual property rights of an individual with a patent. Patents grant inventors a monopoly over their inventions for a limited period of time, usually 20 years for utility patent and 15 years for design patents. The main distinction between utility and design patents is that utility patents protect how an invention works and design patents protect how an invention looks. If you’re an inventor and you have an invention or design that you want to protect you might be wondering what the difference is between a utility patent and a design patent.
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This includes manufacturing and selling the product, and that can be valuable when there is a market for the patented item. Utility patents are the most common type of patent granted by the USPTO by a wide margin, and they are good for up to 20 years. A design patent should not be confused with a utility patent, which safeguards an item’s unique way of operating or its functionality. A single product may have both a design patent and a utility patent at the same time.
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It is far more common in practice for design patents to receive a first-action allowance than utility patents. The design patent application, in contrast, emphasizes visual representation over technical specifications. It necessitates drawings or photographs that clearly depict the novel design from all pertinent perspectives. These visual exhibits must be accompanied by a single claim that defines the scope of the design sought to be patented.
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The fundamental rule is that your invention must also serve its intended purpose and have utility. The utility requirement, also known as “usefulness,” is one of the key requirements for patentability and is the most difficult to understand, as what may be considered “useful” for one inventor may be different for another. We need this to enable us to match you with other users from the same organisation. It is also part of the information that we share to our content providers ("Contributors") who contribute Content for free for your use. You’ll only need to do it once, and readership information is just for authors and is never sold to third parties.
This is in stark contrast to utility patents which call for intricate, nuanced claim formations. In a design patent application, the drawings essentially constitute the claims, with annotations serving merely to highlight the features of the design. Next, settle on whether you wish to protect a functional or ornamental innovation. If the two are intertwined, the most effective strategy is to obtain exclusive rights for both. Once you have decided on which markets are your greatest priorities, you can file separate domestic applications in each relevant national patent office or in regional offices such as the European Patent Office (EPO). The professionals at Dennemeyer have the local knowledge and international perspective to help you determine the best filing strategy and the legal expertise to enact that strategy successfully.
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The eligibility standards are considerably lower than those for a standard patent because there is no substantive examination requirement. The only way to avoid having to pay the additional $400 non-electronic filing fee is by filing the regular nonprovisional utility application via Patent Center. In the United States, that means an item very similar to one under design patent protection cannot be produced, copied, used, or imported into the country. In other countries, a registered design might serve a similar purpose to a design patent. In some European countries, design patents can be obtained through a fee and meeting basic registration criteria.
It often involves detailed documentation of the invention's utility, functionality, and inventiveness. Utility patents are considered stronger forms of protection due to their comprehensive nature, including method, apparatus, system, and use claims. For many, the first step in obtaining a utility patent, aside from a unique idea, is enlisting a patent attorney or agent. They can guide an inventor through the complex utility patent filing process.
The patent application process is often lengthy, and your patent application can remain pending for up to 2 or 3 years. If a utility patent is ultimately issued by the USPTO, it will carry a term of 20 years from the earliest filing date, with maintenance fees due at 3.5 years, 7.5 years and 11.5 years from the date of issuance. When filing a utility patent application, inventors have two options, at least initially — a provisional patent application or a non-provisional patent application. Provisional patent applications often serve the purposes of a being a placeholder, for example, while you fine tune your invention or raise capital. Importantly, while your provisional patent application is on file, you can claim “patent pending” status for the invention disclosed in the application. The application process is streamlined — no complex claims are involved.
In the realm of software embedded in medical devices, a utility patent could cover the algorithms, processes, or methods of operation, while a design patent might protect the unique graphical user interface or the shape of the device. With the medical device software market poised for growth in 2023 and beyond, understanding and managing intellectual property rights has become increasingly significant to maintain competitive advantage and safeguard innovation. Utility patents are for products, processes, or machines that are new or improved, and they represent more than 90% of patents granted by the USPTO.
Companies like Google and Meta (formerly Facebook), for example, protect their graphical user interfaces with U.S. design patents and equivalent IP registrations worldwide. As we mentioned earlier, you can apply for and receive both patent types for the relevant elements of a single invention. However, when it comes to litigation, the implications are not always cut and dry. Consider the infamous patent infringement dispute between Apple and Samsung.
Utility patents give inventors exclusive commercial rights to produce and utilize the latest technology covered by the patent. As well, they can be difficult to write, the process may be time-consuming and expensive to undertake, and their complexity may make them difficult to understand. Most countries use the term "patent" to refer specifically to the IP rights conferred by a utility patent in the United States. Many countries, including Australia, Japan, China and most of Europe, offer a shorter-term alternative to a utility patent called a utility model.
After submitting your application, it will be reviewed by a patent examiner who will determine if your invention meets the requirements for a utility patent. This process can take several years and may involve multiple revisions and rejections. The professionals at Dennemeyer have the localknowledge and international perspective to help you determine thebest filing strategy and the legal expertise to enact that strategysuccessfully. Whether your invention needs a traditional utilitypatent, a design patent or both, we are here to ensure yourcreative output is secure against infringement everywhere you dobusiness.
Additionally, utility patents can take several years to obtain, while design patents typically have a shorter application process. A utility patent protects functional components such as processes or machines and lasts for 20 years from the earliest filing date in most cases. Nevertheless, this period may be subject to modifications contingent upon elements such as Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) or Patent Term Extension (PTE).
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