07.30.2020
Draft Amendments to Chapter 3 “Substantive Examination for Design Patents” of the Patent Examination Guidelines
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BY ALEX C. H. TSUNG
The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has published draft amendments to Chapter 3 “Substantive Examination for Design Patents” of the Patent Examination Guidelines. The following is a summary of the key points.
I. Relaxation of the disclosure requirements for the description and the drawings
I-1. Stipulating that “in principle, the contents that are not disclosed in the drawings are considered as the parts which do not form a part of the claimed design.”
I-2. Further stipulating that if the views included in the drawings are not sufficient to fully disclose the contents of the claimed design or cannot clearly define the scope of the parts which the design intends to claim, the application will be considered as not meeting the enablement requirement.
II. Clearly indicating that building and interior designs are protection targets of design patents
II-1. Clearly indicating that designs can also be designs for real estate including buildings, interior rooms and bridges.
II-2. Exemplifying the ways of disclosure for the drawings for interior designs.
III. Relaxation of the regulations about division of a design patent application
III-1. Removing a circumstance in the current Guidelines in which a divisional application cannot be filed.
III-2. Adding an example drawing for which a divisional application can be filed directing to contents of different scopes.
IV. Amending the regulations about icon designs
IV-1. Clearly indicating that computer program products also can be articles to which the icon design is applied.
IV-2. Stipulating that for icon designs, it is not necessary to draw the carrier like the screen, monitor and display panel by dashed lines as the parts which do not form a part of the claimed design.
V. Miscellaneous
V-1. Providing supplementary explanation for regulations about the disclosure of colors.
V-2. Providing supplementary explanation for the appearance of an article dictated by its function.
V-3. Amending the criteria for determining whether a design that contains colors possesses novelty and an inventive step.
(Translated and summarized from the News and the attachment announced on the website of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office)
The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) has published draft amendments to Chapter 3 “Substantive Examination for Design Patents” of the Patent Examination Guidelines. The following is a summary of the key points.
I. Relaxation of the disclosure requirements for the description and the drawings
I-1. Stipulating that “in principle, the contents that are not disclosed in the drawings are considered as the parts which do not form a part of the claimed design.”
I-2. Further stipulating that if the views included in the drawings are not sufficient to fully disclose the contents of the claimed design or cannot clearly define the scope of the parts which the design intends to claim, the application will be considered as not meeting the enablement requirement.
II. Clearly indicating that building and interior designs are protection targets of design patents
II-1. Clearly indicating that designs can also be designs for real estate including buildings, interior rooms and bridges.
II-2. Exemplifying the ways of disclosure for the drawings for interior designs.
III. Relaxation of the regulations about division of a design patent application
III-1. Removing a circumstance in the current Guidelines in which a divisional application cannot be filed.
III-2. Adding an example drawing for which a divisional application can be filed directing to contents of different scopes.
IV. Amending the regulations about icon designs
IV-1. Clearly indicating that computer program products also can be articles to which the icon design is applied.
IV-2. Stipulating that for icon designs, it is not necessary to draw the carrier like the screen, monitor and display panel by dashed lines as the parts which do not form a part of the claimed design.
V. Miscellaneous
V-1. Providing supplementary explanation for regulations about the disclosure of colors.
V-2. Providing supplementary explanation for the appearance of an article dictated by its function.
V-3. Amending the criteria for determining whether a design that contains colors possesses novelty and an inventive step.
(Translated and summarized from the News and the attachment announced on the website of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office)
