What are the requirements for design patent protection?

What are the requirements for design patent protection?

Design patent protection requires that the design meets the following criteria:

• Ornamentality: The design must be primarily ornamental rather than functional.
• Novelty: The design must be new and original.
• Non-obviousness: The design must not be obvious to a designer of ordinary skill in the art.

According to MPEP 1504.01, “In order to be patentable, a design must be ‘a design for an article of manufacture’ as set forth in 35 U.S.C. 171.” This means the design must be applied to or embodied in an article of manufacture.

To learn more:

• design patent
• ornamentality
• novelty
• non-obviousness
• article of manufacture