Design patent
Encyclopedia : D : DE : DES : 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 and Hungary) 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 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement.
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. Therefore, the right granted to a design patent holder is the right to exclude others from making, producing, and/or selling products that a substantially similar to the protected design.
Prosecution
The prosecution of a design patent encompasses all of the tasks necessary for granting a design patent. In the United States you must be the inventor, a registered patent agent or patent attorney in order to prosecute and file design applications in the United States.A typical United States Design patent application will include a transmittal, a specification, drawings and a declaration.
Term
The term i.e. the duration of a United States Design Patent is 14 years from the date the application is granted. This is not to be confused with the term of a utility patent which provides for a term of 20 years from the filing date.Publication of Application
In China, Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States a design patent application is not published and is kept secret until granted.In Brazil the applicant can request that the application be kept in secrecy for a period of 180 days from the filing date, this will also delay the prosecution and granting of the application for a 180 days.
In Japan an applicant can request that a design be kept secret for a period of up 3 years after the registration has been granted.
History
In 1842, George Bruce was awarded the first design patent for fonts.
See also
- Geschmacksmuster
- Industrial design rights
- Intellectual property organizations
- Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, Designs (OHIM) (European Union)
- Patent
External links
- [The United States Design Patent Application Filing Guide]
- [The Canadian Intellectual Property Office]
- [The State Intellectual Property Office of China]
- [The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market - European Community Design]
- [Taiwanese Intellectual Property Office]
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