Can a design patent protect a pattern or surface ornamentation alone?
No, a design patent cannot protect a pattern or surface ornamentation alone. According to MPEP 1502, “Design is inseparable from the article to which it is applied and cannot exist alone merely as a scheme of surface ornamentation.“
This means that any surface ornamentation or pattern must be applied to a specific article of manufacture to be eligible for design patent protection. The design must be a concrete application to an article, not an abstract concept.
The MPEP further clarifies this by citing recent case law: “A design claim is limited to the article of manufacture identified in the claim; it does not broadly cover a design in the abstract.” (In re SurgiSil, L.L.P., 14 F.4th 1380, 1382, 2021 USPQ2d 1008 (Fed. Cir. 2021))
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