By, Lavanya SureshAssociate - Patents & Designs Altacit Global

Utility Patent

● Issued for the invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement thereof.

● It generally permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention for a period of up to twenty years from the date of patent application filing, subject to the payment of maintenance fees.

● Approximately 90% of the patent documents issued by the USPTO in recent years have been utility patents, also referred to as "patents for invention".

Examples● US 1783484, 1930● Paper clip● Martin Ross

● US 5255452, 1992● Method and means for creating anti-

gravity illusion ● Michael J. Jackson et al

Examples

Merits & Demerits of Utility Patents

● Protects the functional aspects of an invention.

● Can provide broad patent protection making it difficult for a competing product to avoid patent infringement.

● Capable of protecting many different variations of a product with a single utility patent.

More expensive than a design patent.

Takes longer to receive patent protection (normally 3-4 years).

Does not protect the ornamental features of an invention.

Design Patent

● Issued for a new, original, and ornamental design embodied in or applied to an article of manufacture.

● It permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the design. Design patents shall be granted for the term of ten years from the date of filing.

● Design patents are not subject to the payment of maintenance fees.

Examples● Coca-Cola bottle● U.S. D48,160● Samuelson, A.

(1915)

● Apple iPhone 3G● U.S. D629,799 ● Andre, B. (& Jobs, S.) et

al. (2010)

Examples

Surface ornamentation applied to an article

Configuration embodied in an article

Configuration and Surface ornamentation for an article

Variants of Drawings in Design Patents

Merits & Demerits of Design Patents

Do not protect the functional features of an invention.

Can be relatively easy to design around by simply changing the overall appearance of the competing product.

Difficult to protect different variations of product.

● Cheaper than utility patent.● Usually faster patent

protection (normally between 1-2 years).

● If the main feature of the new product is the appearance (i.e. ornamental design), then a design patent will protect this main feature.

DIFFERENCESUTILITY PATENT DESIGN PATENT

PROTECTS How it works How it looks

INITIAL ATTORNEY FEE More Less

OFFICE ACTION/EXAMINATION REPORT REJECTIONS

High probability Low probability

ATTORNEY FEE FOR ONGOING PROSECUTION

More Less

TIMING (AVERAGE PENDENCY TO ISSUE OR ABANDONMENT)

More than 4 years Less than 18 months

PATENT TERM 20 Years (Non-extendable) 10 Years from filing date (Extendable upto 5 Years)

POINT OF REFERENCE FOR DETERMINING INFRINGEMENT

Claims Drawings

When to File Both a Design Patent Application and a Utility Patent

Application

• If your invention has a unique structure/function coupled with a unique ornamental design.

• Both design and utility patent applications will provide you with "patent pending" while they are pending at the Patent Office.

ExampleUtility Patent for iPhone (US7479949) Design Patent for iPhone (

USD636392)Claim 1: A computing device, comprising: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including: instructions for detecting one or more finger contacts with the touch screen display...

Claim 1: The ornamental design for an electronic device with graphical user interface, as shown and described.

Cont.. Utility Patent for iPhone (US7479949) Design Patent for iPhone

(USD636392)

Thank you.