US Design Patent Application
Short answer: a US design patent protects how an article looks — its shape, surface decoration and overall ornament — and gives 15 years from grant with no maintenance fees. The trap for sellers is the disclosure clock: in the US you have a limited grace period after your own public release, but elsewhere your own listing can destroy novelty, so file before you launch.
How we work
The ornamental appearance of the product, or of a specific part of it
Note your first public date anywhere in the world — this drives both US grace-period and foreign novelty analysis
Line drawings or photographic surfaces with consistent shading, broken lines for unclaimed features
The USPTO issues design objections, often on view consistency or claim scope, which are usually fixable
Platform complaints, customs recordation and settlement leverage all work better with an issued number
What you need to prepare
- Product samples or dimensions
- Complete set of views (front, rear, side, top, bottom, perspective)
- Statement of the claimed ornamental feature
- First public disclosure and first sale dates
- Applicant and inventor details for the oath or declaration
Frequently asked questions
The product is already on sale. Can I still file?
In the US, potentially — your own disclosure may fall inside the grace period, counted from the date you first published or sold. Outside the US the position is usually stricter, so a design that launched before filing generally cannot be registered as a new EU or UK design. File first, launch second, whenever you can.
Should I use a design patent, a trademark or copyright?
They protect different things. A design patent covers the ornamental look for a fixed term. Trade dress or a shape mark can protect source-identifying appearance but needs evidence of secondary meaning. Copyright covers graphic work such as surface artwork. For a physical product, sellers commonly start with a design patent because it is straightforward to obtain and to point at in a complaint.
Can the grant be accelerated?
Yes, two official routes exist: a design prioritised examination for a qualifying applied-for design, and expedited examination for a small entity. Both come with additional official fees and stricter formality, but they can pull the grant in from the standard window to a fraction of it.
Want an assessment first?
Tell us the product and target marketplaces and we will give you a registrability opinion, a realistic timeline and a cost breakdown. Files can be submitted within 48 hours of confirmation.
