Design Patents

A design patent protects an ornamental design or a product.

Whoever invents any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.

— 35 U.S. Code § 171 (a).

The provisions of 35 U.S. Code generally apply to design patents.

The provisions of this title relating to patents for inventions shall apply to patents for designs, except as otherwise provided.

— 35 U.S. Code § 171 (a).

Differences between utility patents and design patents include the term and remedies available for infringement. The term for a design patent is 15 years from the date of grant.

Patents for designs shall be granted for the term of 15 years from the date of grant.

— 35 U.S. Code § 173.

The illustrations in a design patent may be central to the subject matter it claims.

A design patent's claim is ... often better represented by illustrations than a written claim construction.

— Sport Dimension, Inc. v. Coleman Co., Inc., 820 F. 3d 1316, 1320 (Fed. Cir. 2016).

A design patent may be invalid if function dictates its design.

[A] design patent cannot claim a purely functional design — a design patent is invalid if its overall appearance is dictated by its function.

— Sport Dimension, Inc. v. Coleman Co., Inc., 820 F. 3d 1316, 1320 (Fed. Cir. 2016).

A design patent may contain both functional elements and ornamental aspects–as long as the scope of what it claims is limited to ornamental aspects of the design.

If the overall appearance of a claimed design is not primarily functional, the design claim is not invalid, even if certain elements have functional purposes. Richardson, 597 F.3d at 1293-94. The scope of that claim, however, must be limited to the ornamental aspects of the design[.]

— Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. v. Covidien, Inc., 796 F. 3d 1312, 1333 (Fed. Cir. 2015).