In the world of furniture design, aesthetics often play as crucial a role as functionality since the unique appearance of a furniture piece can set it apart in a competitive marketplace and help establish a brand’s identity. Fortunately, design patents are uniquely suited to protect the visual innovation embedded in furniture designs, and can help to safeguard company investment in the creation of unique offerings.

While utility patent applications may be used to protect functional aspects of furniture, design patents are the preferred method to protect any unique and ornamental visual qualities of these products, including any particular shape or configuration, surface ornamentation, or a combination thereof. That is, design patents focus on how a product looks, for example, the ornamental design of a headboard or footboard of a bed. In an industry where design is paramount, having a unique design that is protected, preferably with a multi-variate or iterative design patent thicket, can provide offensive and defensive support against competitors who might try to copy the design. However, building these design patent portfolios in a cost effective and efficient manner requires a thoughtful strategy and must be implemented as early as possible once the design of the furniture piece has been finalized.

As in other industries, furniture companies often rely on distinct designs to build their brand identity, and a series of design patents directed to a particular piece can create a patent thicket surrounding a recognizable product line that consumers may associate with a specific brand. For example, a bedframe has several core components, including a headboard and a footboard, and while a design patent directed to the entire bed frame does provide value against copying the entire look and feel, portion claiming through one or more design patent filings can protect core design features in a targeted fashion. An example is shown directly below, where only a portion of the headboard is claimed, which can be leveraged against design imitators that only attempt to imitate the aspects shown in solid lines in the design drawings.

FIGS, 1 and 9 of U.S. Design Patent No. D893232 for a “Bed Frame”

The example above provides an illustration of how a portion design claim can be leveraged to protect the unique curvature of a bed’s headboard, which can be juxtaposed with the example provided directly below, where the entire headboard and the entire footboard are claimed in solid lines. Both strategies provide value, and implementing such strategies for the same bed frame design can help to build a thicket of design patents that may cause competitors to think twice before entering the market with a similar looking bed frame and can certainly be leveraged in combination in any dispute against the competitor.

FIG. 1 of U.S. Design Patent No. D479056 for a “Bed”

Furthermore, and as shown above, design patents can be particularly effective at protecting unique visual elements of furniture pieces, such as detailed engravings, patterns, or artistic motifs that, in limited circumstances, can later develop into trademarks that serve as a source identifier for a particular brand. Such trade dress or trademark protection can be difficult to obtain, but once secured, can be a powerful weapon against competitors for as long as the mark is used in commerce. 

Finally, in a previous post, we discussed a decision by the Review Board of the United States Copyright Office that reversed a prior refusal to register a copyright for the artistic elements of a bed. While that decision demonstrated that copyright protection can be obtained for aspects of furniture in certain circumstances, design patents certainly provide much more complete protection for the overall ornamental design of furniture items, and are the preferred vehicle for protection of any such product. 

The Quarles design rights legal team is nationally recognized for its extensive knowledge and practice experience in this complex and important field. For questions about this article or how to incorporate design-related legal rights into your intellectual property portfolio, please contact the author(s) of this post directly or send a message to the team via our Contact page. To subscribe to our mailing list and receive updates that highlight issues currently affect the design rights legal field, click here. 

As outlined in our previous post, partial design claiming in China continues to be a moving target, as variations in the interpretation of partial design claims persist among Chinese examiners. As of this writing, the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has still not yet released formal guidelines or recommendations detailing partial claiming that is and is not acceptable after partial claiming in Chinese design patents became permitted on June 1, 2021. Still, trends have begun to emerge in some aspects of partial claim interpretation with respect to design titles, independent and complete design units, surface indicia and patterns, dividing lines, and simple geometric shapes. This post provides an update regarding the interpretation of independent and complete design units for partial design claims and offers guidance for protecting articles of varying sizes. 

Continue Reading The Moving Target of “Complete Design Units” in Chinese Law

Upending decades of continuity in the world of design patents, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”), sitting en banc in LKQ Corporation v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC, overturned the Rosen/Durling standard for obviousness of design patents, originally set forth in In re Rosen, 673 F.2d 388, 391 (C.C.P.A. 1982) and further refined in Durling v. Spectrum Furniture Co., 101 F.3d 100, 103 (Fed. Cir. 1996), to align the test for obviousness for design patents with the U.S. Supreme Court precedent for utility patents originally set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1 (1966) and refined in KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 419 (2007).  In so doing, the CAFC outlined the new framework by which design patent obviousness is to be determined at the United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) during examination and post-grant proceedings, as well as during district court litigation involving infringement or invalidity challenges of design patents.

Continue Reading R.I.P. Mr. Rosen: Federal Circuit Upends Longstanding Design Patent Obviousness Test

Quarles & Brady Partner and editor-in-chief of the firm’s Protecting the Product design rights blog, James Aquilina, Partner Michael Piery, Associate Rachel Ackerman, and patent professionals Harrison Powell and Audrey Jacobson attended the 17th Annual USPTO Design Day on May 9, 2024 at the USPTO’s Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

Continue Reading RECAP – 17th Annual USPTO Design Day

Over the past two decades, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been working on a Design Law Treaty focused on aligning examination and procedural guidelines associated with what have historically been referred to as “industrial designs.” One main goal of the Design Law Treaty is to help designers in domestic and foreign jurisdictions obtain design protection faster, easier, and cheaper. In theory, the Design Law Treaty would help to streamline the registration formalities in jurisdictions that are signatories to the treaty and reduce the amount of “red tape” that comes with obtaining design protection across different jurisdictions.

Continue Reading USPTO Request for Public Comments Regarding the WIPO Design Law Treaty

The beauty industry is ever changing, and makeup trends and viral product releases can drastically increase a company’s profits.  However, without proper legal protection, competitors can quickly replicate a product, eating into those profits. 

In this post, we will address how design patents and trade dress can be employed to provide protection for various beauty-related tools and products.

Continue Reading Protecting the Product: Beauty Products

As outlined in our previous post, securing a partial design claim in China is akin to hitting a moving target, as the interpretation of partial design claims in China has varied among cases and examiners.  Since the rule change allowing partial claiming for Chinese design patents took effect on June 1, 2021, the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has still not yet released formal guidelines detailing what is and is not permitted.  However, certain patterns have emerged from the tranche of partial design claims that have been refused or allowed so far, especially regarding design titles, independent design units, patterns/surface indicia, unconnected claims, dividing lines, and simple geometric shapes.  From these patterns, there are several guideposts that applicants can use to navigate the uncertain waters of partial design claiming until a formal statement from the CNIPA is released.

Continue Reading The Moving Target of Partial Design Protection Under Chinese Law