Firstly, why are design patent drawings important? Design patent drawings are crucial for design patent applications as they provide specific and detailed visuals that are essential documents for defining legal rights. The following explains the importance of design patent drawings:
- Determining the scope of protection: Patent drawings are essential in clearly defining the specific appearance of a design, which in turn determines the scope of patent protection for that design.
- Demonstrating uniqueness: Design patents are granted based on their novelty and originality. Through patent drawings, applicants must show how their design differs from known designs in its application.
- Avoiding ambiguity: From the perspective of the third party or the public, clear and detailed drawings eliminate ambiguity, ensuring that others can accurately understand the extent of protection afforded to the design, thereby reducing the risk of infringement on the design patent.
- Providing legal evidence: Once again, if a design patent is infringed, the drawings become crucial evidence for judges to determine the existence of infringement. Clear drawings assist patent holders in defending their rights in legal disputes.
- Assisting in an examination: For patent examiners at patent offices, clear and detailed drawings aid in more effectively assessing the novelty and originality of a design, thereby expediting the examination process and granting patent rights more quickly.
In summary, design patent drawings are not only a core component of applying for a design patent but also play a crucial role in the validity, enforcement, and maintenance of the patent. Properly preparing these drawings ensures that applicants receive the maximum level of protection.
The Intellectual Property Office has updated the design patent specification and drawing disclosure methods in response to the diversity of design patent application drawings. The focus of this update is on certain illustrations, examples, and descriptive content (as indicated in the underlined sections on pages 5, 20, 25, 26, 29, 34 to 37, 41, 43 to 45, 57 to 58, 67 to 69, 81 to 85… marked in the document linked檔案連結).
Update highlights：
The addition of examples of incorrect usage status diagrams.(3.1.8)
Including methods for representing color(3.2.5)
If the drawings represent the design using grayscale computer graphics or black and white photographs (such as Figure 3-38a), but to avoid any misunderstanding that there is a claim of grayscale or black and white color, the design description may include a statement such as “This case is represented using grayscale computer graphics/black and white photographs, and the shading in each view is only for representing the shape, not to claim the grayscale/black and white colors as shown in the figure.” This statement helps clarify the scope of the claim.
The representation method for a long and narrow design.(3.2.8)
If the item is not inherently long in nature, it should not be represented using broken lines to depict the design (such as Figure 3-44). If the purpose is to indicate the “unclaimed portion” of the design, it should still be represented using broken lines, dotted lines, or other discontinuous line styles.
Omitting views should be avoided to prevent ambiguity in claiming the design’s appearance.(4.1.2)
After omitting certain views, care should be taken to avoid creating ambiguity in the appearance of the claimed design or causing the scope of the design in the patent application to become unclear. For example, in the case of the “water filter” in Figures 4 and 4a, where the drawings only include a perspective view and a top view, the appearance of the item’s side view is not clear based on the limited content disclosed. If you wish to consider the content of the omitted front, rear, left, and right views as unclaimed portions of the design, but the perspective view and top view contain certain side view features represented by solid lines, it may not be possible to clearly differentiate between the “claimed portion of the design” and the “unclaimed portion of the design.” This can lead to ambiguity in the scope of the patented design.
After omitting certain views, care should be taken to avoid creating ambiguity in the appearance of the claimed design or causing the scope of the design in the patent application to become unclear. For example, in the case of the “water filter” in Figures 4 and 4a, where the drawings only include a perspective view and a top view, the appearance of the item’s side view is not clear based on the limited content disclosed. If you wish to consider the content of the omitted front, rear, left, and right views as unclaimed portions of the design, but the perspective view and top view contain certain side view features represented by solid lines, it may not be possible to clearly differentiate between the “claimed portion of the design” and the “unclaimed portion of the design.” This can lead to ambiguity in the scope of the patented design.
The disclosure method for graphic designs.
If the graphic possesses three-dimensional characteristics, such as being generated through 3D projection or VR imaging, the disclosure of three-dimensional graphic designs should be done by referring to the methods of representing three-dimensional designs（參第 3.1.1 節 (1) 、 (2) 、 (3) 及 (4) 之說明以立體圖及六面視圖呈現（如圖 4-16 、圖 4-16a) 。
The disclosure of spatial design drawings.
Architectural or interior design drawings must also have an adequate number of views (such as three-dimensional views and six-sided views, or multiple three-dimensional views) to fully represent all the aspects of the claimed design. For more details, please refer to第 3.1.1節 (1)、 (2)、 (3)及 (4) 之說明。
In interior design, the focus is often on the morphology of the interior space. Therefore, it is possible to omit the drawing of certain wall portions or use sectional views to depict the characteristics of the interior space. (如圖 4-24 、圖 4-25) Alternatively, it is also possible to set the perspective view from inside the space to reveal the “interior view” in its orthographic projection. 視圖如圖 4-26 及第 4.5.4 節之範例三 。
The principles for drawing orthographic projection views using an interior perspective view, as illustrated in Figure 4-26, involve projecting each design feature or object within the interior space based on its attachment to the internal perspective surface. （如第4.5.4節之範例三）； Furthermore, the titles of each view should be labeled as “Front View from Interior Perspective,” “Rear View from Interior Perspective,” and so on, to avoid confusion with the labeling of standard six-sided views.
Source：TIPO經濟部智慧局
LINK：https://www.tipo.gov.tw/tw/cp-85-926454-02696-1.html
「姓名標示─非商業性─禁止改作」授權條款臺灣3.0版
本著作採「創用CC」之授權模式，僅限於非營利、禁止改作且標示著作人姓名之條件下，得利用本著作。
Author
楊杰凱 專利師
總承國際智權事務所｜總承會計師事務所｜主持專利師｜商標代理人｜國立清華大學工業工程管理學系｜清大創新創業學分學程｜華盛頓大學法學院法學碩士｜。主要提供公司成立及智財服務，從工商登記、商標設計、商標申請到專利申請。“Stay positive. Work hard. Make it happen.”