11/20/2023 2:18:57 PM | less than a minute read

Updated GUI design patent guidelines issued

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Bill Kramer

Partner

Get in touch

Bill Kramer

Partner

The USPTO issued clarifying guidance on whether Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) can be covered by design patents. The relevant statute requires that a design patent cover a “good” or article of manufacture and a GUI is not a “good.” The clarifying guidelines emphasize that the design patent must claim a “good” and not just an image such as a GUI.

The guidelines are a great reminder that great care must be used when filing design patents. Failing to describe a GUI as being part of a "good" will be fatal to a design patent application. While design patents look easy, a patent attorney with significant experience in filing design patents can help you avoid any fatal errors.

“a picture standing alone is not protectable by a design patent,” and “[t]he factor which distinguishes statutory design subject matter from mere picture or surface ornamentation per se (i.e., abstract designs) is the embodiment of the design in an article of manufacture.” Ex parte Strijland, 26 USPQ2d at 1262.

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