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ARTICLE · 05 DECEMBER 2023

Protect Your Novel Graphical User Interfaces And Computer-Generated Icons From Unauthorized Use Or Theft Using U.S. Design Patent Protection

Jeffer Mangels & Mitchell LLP
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The Patent and Trademark Office recently published "Supplemental Guidance for Examination of Design Patent Applications Related to Computer-Generated Electronic Images...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Jeffer Mangels & Mitchell LLP
Jeffer Mangels & Mitchell LLP
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The Patent and Trademark Office recently published "Supplemental Guidance for Examination of Design Patent Applications Related to Computer-Generated Electronic Images, Including Computer-Generated Icons and Graphical User Interfaces" in the Federal Register (PTO-P-2023-0047).

There, the Patent Office confirmed that both a graphical user interface (GUI) and a computer-generated icon can be covered by design patents. Design patents protect "new, original and ornamental designs for an article of manufacture." 35 U.S.C., Section 171. Protected ornamental designs can include at least three kinds of designs:

  1. a design for an ornament, impression, print, or picture that is applied to or embodied in an article of manufacture (surface indicia)

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