EUIPO design right from China have been hot for a long time, and the US design is relatively small. Most of them are complained by overseas applicants, but rarely apply for US patents. There are only two reasons: 1. US design applications are expensive; 2. The long application time for appearance in the United States has discouraged many applicants.

 

The main reason is that the application time is too long. Many normal application cases cannot get the certificate in 2 years.

 

The cross-border e-commerce industry is known for its fierce competition and fast product iteration. How many classic products can remain prosperous for two years?

 

However, since the expedited application of U.S. design became known to the public, the number of U.S. design applications has surged...

 

The application time of up to two years is shortened to 5 months or even 3 months (the time for the certificate to be handed in)

 

And the product can be completed in 3 months from design completion to mold opening, to shipment, and to the shelf. As soon as the product is on the shelf, it can be labeled as a "patented product".

 

If the application is a step slower, and the product has been on the shelves for a period of time, then it also will be ok...

 

If the application is slower, the product has been on the shelves for a period of time, and the sales volume has risen before applying for the United States. At this time, the imitation product has been issued, but the patent will soon be released. Can't be more fragrant...

 

However, every field is the same, there are more fish, more nets, and the water is getting more and more muddy...

 

So, let's talk about the pitfalls of US appearance patent applications...

 

American design. Timing of application

 

In principle, patent applications need to be novel. Generally speaking, there can be no announcements in any form before the patent application date, including Moments, Weibo, exhibitions, and sales records.

However, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has given applicants a great grace period: proactive disclosure within one year will not affect the novelty of the patent application.

 

Therefore, if you are a little bit more minded, you can wait for the product to grow into a hot product within a year, and then apply for a US design. (USPTO will check Amazon in detail when reviewing novelty, so the time to apply is likely to lead to a review opinion, but it can be overcome)

 

This application time is feasible, but it is not recommended. A better application method is mentioned in the previous article:

 

New products can first apply for design patents in China and the European Union. Other countries, depending on the sales volume, can apply for the United States, Japan, South Korea and other regions within half a year. The design of the United States and Japan shall not exceed one year before the publication.

 

US design.  Pre-application search

The US design patent application is a substantive examination system, and pre-patent search is indispensable to prevent the application from being rejected due to prior similar designs/prior disclosures. Design patent search is a very cumbersome and time-consuming task (more time-consuming than the patent application itself). Generally, agencies will not actively provide searches or do searches for free. Even if they do search for free, they are just lost. Take a look at the image retrieval of the retrieval platform. Whether the results are accurate or not, you can only fight for luck. 

 

In the field of e-commerce, there are three situations for prior similar design/prior disclosure:

 

A. The product has been published and has been preemptively registered in other countries, especially in Europe (usually the European Union or the United Kingdom). If the examiner finds an existing application (the inventors are inconsistent, or the publication time is more than one year), it will result in the application being rejected due to lack of novelty (but relatively speaking, American examiners seldom check the status of overseas design applications, and more often check the sales status of online platforms).

B. The product has been on the shelves for more than one year;

C. The product itself is imitation, and the design is not changed enough.

 

Therefore, it is recommended that before applying for a US design patent, you should control the sale date yourself, and let the agent do a patent search and make a pre-application evaluation.

 

American design. Application Process

 

Low prices make people rush, and high prices are not necessarily so reliable.

 

U.S. design patent drawing is a technical activity. Most U.S. patent applications are line drawing, and most of the line drawing will be surface shading added by a dedicated drafting engineer. (If your U.S. design application has no surface shading, Then the agent you are looking for is more likely to be unreliable).

 

What is the effect of not adding surface shadows? There is a high probability that the image of the application will be rejected by the examiner on the grounds that the image cannot fully express the surface structure of the product.

 

In this way, it is necessary to re-draw the drawing based on the review opinions, which not only delays the application process, but also brings additional attorney fees.

 

If you come across an agency that handles problems with a US design application, don’t pick it. They are absolutely professional and experienced, and they have confidence in themselves.

 

American design. Application Features

 

The most distinctive part of the U.S. application is continuation application + partial application.

 

The main effect of continuation applications and partial applications is to expand the scope of patent protection. Designed for applicants who dislike the narrow scope of protection for design patents...

 

Due to space limitations, this part will be continued.

 

American design. About us

 

One of the major features of Hengxun Intellectual Property Agency's US design application is: detailed search before application + US mapping package processing, which is feasible and cherished.