Now, that we are involved with all kinds of patent related technical stuff, revolving around us in this current world, it is important to understand and indulge oneself to understand the basic differences between the basic terms, used in day-to-day business in the Patent(s) arena. So as one should know about this, the knowledge of such terms and other related things, can and will help one to actually know the business going around oneself, so that the professional, no matter how much a perfectionist they are, the said owner or inventor is inasmuch, under some spotlight to know what is being dealt with, surrounding his patent application, product, invention etc. or in laymen terms, not totally out of the blue in a clear shot.
Moving further close to the ascertained topic of the day, Utility Patent vs. Design Patent, the definitions of such comes at the first priority, as such the same is mentioned therein below,
A utility patent protects the structural and functional aspects of a new or improved product or system and is the most popular type of patent. A design patent, on the other hand, covers the unique appearance of an item. A design patent embraces element such as a specific product shape, colour arrangement, or surface ornamentation. The perfect example for the same is, as one may be mostly familiar in majority, the shape of a laptop or a part of a computer or a flower vase may be protected with a design patent. Moreover, if one had recently purchased a set of headphones, one may have noticed that they came in a sleek-looking container with a unique fabric pattern. The shape of the said container and the fabric pattern may be the subjects of design patents. A utility patent, on the other hand, routinely includes many columns of text that describe the various embodiments of an invention and ends with one or more claims that define the scope of the invention. A design patent has only one claim – a short characterization of the illustrated device, such as “The ornamental design for a medical device as shown and described.”
Also, coming to the legislative part of the said topic, once a design patent is issued, no further action is required to keep the design patent in force. In contrast, to keep a utility patent in force, maintenance fees must be paid on three separate occasions to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. These fees are due 4 years, 8 years, and 12 years after the issue date. Failure to pay any of the maintenance fees will cause the utility patent to lapse.To get a utility patent, one must fill out a "provisional" application.
- The said provisional application is a temporary patent request.
- The paperwork gives one, a period of one year to file one’s official application.
- Design patents don't have this system. One may file the same when they are ready because there's less risk of competition.
Utility patents and design patents have different term lengths and approval periods, which are as follows:
- Utility patents last 20 years from the first American application. A patent lasts 17 years from its approval date. Extensions beyond 20 years are possible but rare.
- Design patents filed before Dec. 15, 2013, last 14 years from their issuing. Any design patent issued after that time has a 15-year claim.
- The USPTO (United Stated Patents and Trademarks Offices) takes, on average, two years to confirm a design patent.
- Utility patents generally take more than three years for approval. The USPTO has to check them very carefully. With design patents, the organization runs a prior-art search. As long as nothing shows up, the design has a good chance of earning a patent.
Once, one has filed for a design patent, one can list it as patent-pending. Then accordingly, one can identify it as patented once the USPTO confirms the same.
The importance of drawings in a design patent come with various advantages, adding to the reasons as to why it is important for the same. The drawings for a design patent application is the most important part of the design patent application. The drawings define the scope of protection afforded under the design patent. The drawings for the design patent application are not designed to tell a story as in the drawings for a utility patent application. Rather, because a design patent protects the ornamentation of a product, it is primarily concerned with showing the protected design of the product. Simply put, the drawings should show the look of the product it is protecting. It should mainly focus on the main unique design and the crucial portion of the product, which would vastly help in its differentiation from other products of the same line in the market, i.e. with the other patent(s) of the same line.To further read this astonishing article on the same topic, you can continue on our official website as listed below:
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