Design Patentability Search
Ensure your product’s unique look is truly original and legally defensible.
What is a Design Patentability Search?
The Design Patentability Search analyzes the "novelty" and "non-obviousness" of the product's ornamental design. While utility patents provide protection for the functionality of products, design patents give protection to the look of the products. The professional design patent search aims at ensuring that the design, shape, configuration, and/or surface decoration of the product is not already patented to uncover any relevant visual prior art.
Why Conduct This Search?
- Avoid Rejection — Determine confusingly similar designs prior to filing the application with the IPO, USPTO, EPO, or WIPO. This acts as a vital prior art risk assessment and IP clearance search.
- Scope Definition — Determine the "crowdedness" of the product design to craft better claim applications through a thorough patent clearance search.
- Design Infringement Risk Mitigation — Launch your new product without risk of being sued by competing companies. Conducting a design patent clearance search, freedom to operate design patent analysis, or FTO design search helps mitigate this design patent infringement risk. It serves as a critical infringement risk check and design risk analysis before entering the market.
How We Do It at Intellect Bastion:
- Visual Features Analysis – Our experts assess the visual features of the product design including its distinctive shapes, lines, and textures using a specialized visual patent search and GUI design search.
- Locarno and Design Classes Research – We cope with complicated classification systems like the Locarno Classification system and national classes of designs. This precise Locarno classification design search and Locarno classification search ensure comprehensive coverage.
- Worldwide Databases Search – We search databases such as DesignView, WIPO Hague Express, and industrial design gazette databases. This rigorous global design patent database search and global design search leaves no stone unturned.
- Prior Art Image Search (non-patents) – We search online catalogues, social media posts, trade publications, etc., for prior art images. This establishes a robust industrial design prior art methodology for advanced prior art tracking.
Why Choose Intellect Bastion?
We have a sharp visual analysis skill set. Our reports are highly accurate featuring comparison of your product with prior art at a high resolution level. As an experienced patent search firm, our team of design patent experts and expert patent analysts delivers premier design patent search services. When you choose to outsource design patent search projects to our IP search agency, you get a dedicated patent search firm for industrial designs backed by expert design patent specialists.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to top questions about Patentability Search, novelty evaluation, and the patent filing process.
How is a design search different from a standard utility patent search?
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While in function searches, only the functional part ("how it works") is considered, design searches look only for visual similarities.
Do you search for "look-alike" products in non-patent sources like Pinterest or catalogs?
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That's right. Anything publicly seen from a catalogue issued in the 1920s to an Instagram post is potential prior art that can block a design patent.
What happens if a design is similar but serves a different function?
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Function is generally not a consideration in design patents. Even when a particular teapot resembles a specialized industrial pump, the latter can act as prior art against the former.
How do you handle searches for graphical user interfaces (GUIs) or icons?
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We do specialized electronic searches of registered design collections for screen displays, icons, animations and so forth.
Which design databases (Locarno classification, etc.) do you utilize?
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Locarno Classification, World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Design Database, as well as each country's design registry (e.g. IPO, USPTO, EUIPO, JPO).
Can you search for 3D shapes and ornamental patterns?
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Yes, we will conduct 3D silhouette, surface texture, and pattern searches to determine whether your product's "visual DNA" is truly unique.
How do you determine if a design is "obvious" compared to existing designs?
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We will search for "primary references" (very similar to your work) and "secondary references" that could potentially combine to make up your design from the standpoint of an ordinary person.
Does the search cover international design registrations (Hague System)?
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Yes, our searches cover all international applications via the Hague Agreement to guarantee global uniqueness of your design.
What is the turnaround time for a design prior art search?
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Since such searches are quite visual, we usually provide the full report in 3-5 working days.
Can you help me determine if my product packaging is protectable?
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Yes, designs of bottles, boxes, or even unboxing procedures can be protected using design patents.
Don’t File Blind — Do a Patentability Search First
Give your invention the best start! Learn why a patentability search is crucial and how to check originality using the right tools and strategies.