Why Should You File A Design Patent Application In The United States?

Design applications can be a low-cost approach to protect a marketed product from rivals, or they can be used to enhance other utility application protection. The design and look of a marketed product may have a significant impact on market acceptability and success. Separate from the function of the product, an eye-catching appearance and the look and feel of the product may justify protection in a design patent.

Benefit of design patent protection

A design patent’s main advantage is that it may be used to any new design, even if the fundamental product or function is old. A design patent, for example, could be able to protect a new version of an old product that comes as part of a product refresh. So, even if utility patent coverage is absent, if the new design has commercial appeal, protecting it and preventing copycats may be worthwhile. If you’re investing in a new product design, a design patent can help you protect and preserve your investment.

Knock-off protection is perhaps one of the most valuable features of a design patent. Knockoffs are popular in today’s industry of e-commerce domination. A rival or counterfeit creator may wish to offer an item that appears exactly like your company’s product, using the design that makes your product stand out in the marketplace. In the case of over-the-counter consumables such as pencils, a client may not take the effort to distinguish the real product from an imitator’s product and may purchase the incorrect one. When visiting major e-commerce platforms, many variants of what appears to be the exact same design are provided by rival vendors on the same page, the risk for these sorts of consumer products is obvious.

There may be no recourse available from a utility patent standpoint if confusingly similar items lacking a technical characteristic covered by a utility patent. However, there may be design patent infringement to the extent that the design is covered by a design patent.

In addition, design patents provide protection more rapidly than utility patents. A utility application may take two or more years to be reviewed by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), although design applications are normally reviewed considerably more rapidly. In fact, design patents are often reviewed for the first time within a year. Some design patents may even be granted within a year. As a result, design patent protection may be more rapidly obtained than utility patent protection when a product enters the market sooner and time is of the essence.

The reduced cost of design patent protection is another advantage. The expense of preparing and prosecuting a design patent at the USPTO is often substantially lower than that of a utility patent. Unlike utility patents, which need a lengthy and thorough explanation, design patents are generally made up of drawings depicting various angles of the object. When 3D design figures or manufacturing drawings are already available, a patent draftsperson can produce the figures and an attorney can examine and finalize the application in a short amount of time. Utility applications, on the other hand, typically take a lot more time and money for the attorney to prepare.

Cost savings can also be obtained during the prosecution of a design application at the USPTO, since design applications are often approved considerably more quickly and with less back-and-forth between an attorney and the USPTO. Because of all of these reasons, obtaining a design patent is substantially less expensive than obtaining a utility patent.

Infringement remedies for design patents are significantly more powerful than those for utility patent infringement. A successful design patent plaintiff, for example, can recover all of an infringer’s earnings from the sale of the infringing design. A utility patent owner, on the other hand, can only recover a fair fee or, in some cases, its own lost earnings. A utility patent owner, unlike a design patent owner, cannot recoup the profits of the infringer. As a result, in cases of claimed design patent infringement, the putative infringer may be pushed to reach a quick settlement.

A patent owner might profit from design patents in a variety of ways, including faster grant times, lower costs, increased damages, and advantages over trade dress. When a product’s appearance is important, design patent protection is a great way to secure it in a timely and cost-effective manner.