Design patent protection for icons and graphical user interfaces is becoming more important in all facets of technology, regardless of the intended use of the technology. As a growing number of everyday products incorporate computing display screens into their usage (tablets, e-readers, watches, home appliances, etc.), user interfaces and icons become another venue for corporate branding strategies, and thereby another way of setting companies apart from the competition. The particular appearance of a user interface may be more aesthetically pleasing or visually easier to navigate than a competitor’s product. As anticipated, user interface and icon protection are also becoming more important for Internet sites. In view of the widespread copying of certain successful icon designs and graphical user interface designs, design patents are important in preventing potential misappropriation.

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Example Design Patent: Nokia Phone (Download Full PDF Here)

If a design patent application claims a computer-generated icon shown on a computer screen, monitor other display panel, or a portion thereof, the claim complies with the “article of manufacture” requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 171.^[1] The display panel or the portion thereof should be shown in either solid or broken lines, as appropriate to the claim.^[2] The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office also permits design protection for graphical user interfaces and icons that are animated or transitional in nature.^[3] In such design patent applications, to explain the design, a “descriptive statement must be included in the specification describing the transitional nature of the design and making it clear that the scope of the claim does not include anything that is not shown.”^[4]

^[1] MPEP §1504.01(a) (9th ed., rev, Sept. 2015).
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.