Design Patent Quick Facts

Design Patents:

• Are useful to protect the design of nearly every type of product from smartphones to the retail stores that sell them; from pharmaceuticals to medical devices; and from running shoes to construction equipment
• Can be used to protect an entire product or just part of it
• Protection in the U.S. runs 15 years from the grant date
• Issued U.S. design patents more than doubled from 2014 to 2024; in the U.S., issued design patents jumped 33% 2023 to 2024
• Are complimentary to utility patents; utility patents protect the way a product works, design patents protect the way a product looks
• Can be filed as a continuation of a pending utility patent application
• Unlike utility patents, can only contain one claim
• Are typically less costly, and easier and quicker to obtain than utility patents; in some jurisdictions design rights can be obtained in a matter of days
• Must be filed abroad within 6 months of the U.S. filing date to claim Paris Convention priority
• Can be efficiently filed around the world using WIPO’s Hague international design system
• Have a unique remedy for infringement in the U.S.: disgorgement of the infringer’s total profit; one of the largest U.S. patent infringement awards was based almost exclusively on design patents
• Can be simpler and easier to prove infringement, often causing infringers to stop selling an infringing product with just receipt of a demand letter
• Are accepted by some online sales platforms for takedown of infringing products
• Outperform utility patents in obtaining injunctions, both in district court and at the ITC, including general exclusion orders (more than 50% of investigations between 2015 and 2024 involving a design patent granted a GEO)
• Are less often the basis for a successful institution in an IPR or PGR at the USPTO than utility patents; <40% institution rate (2013 – 2025)
• Are complimentary to trademark/trade dress rights, but are not subject to limitations like use in commerce or source identification
• Are complimentary to copyright, but are not subject to limitations like creativity, fair use, or independent creation

For more information, please visit the design patents page on our website or contact Director, Tracy Durkin at [email protected].