Patents vs Designs

Of all the technology patent lawsuits in progress at the moment, the Apple vs Samsung case in Germany (iPad 2 vs Galaxy Tab 10.1) has fed the fires of many an internet rant. The idea that Apple could get a 'patent for a rectangle with rounded corners' has provoked widespread incredulity and has been painted as (another) sure sign of a broken patent system.

There's just one problem. The 'rectangle with rounded corners' patent is a design patent.

Although that looks like a prime example of legal hair-splitting, it's actually an important distinction. In the US, a utility patent is what most people are talking about when they talk about patents. Utility patents protect new inventions and contain a technical description of how that invention works. Design patents on the other hand protect the three-dimensional shape of an object. The aesthetics or 'industrial design' if you like.  Unfortunately (although understandably) this distinction is usually lost and design patents tend to be seen as just another utility patent. Hence all the irate commentary.

In Europe, things are a bit less prone to confusion. A patent covers the technical details (equivalent to a US utility patent) whereas a Community design right covers the aesthetic details (equivalent to a US design patent).

The key thing about Community design rights (or design patents) is that they are extremely specific. So for example USD 633087, is (one of many) Apple design patents for laptops. Does that mean that Apple has a monopoly on clamshell style laptops and that nobody else can make a portable computer with a screen section hinged to a keyboard section. Of course not - it just means that nobody else can make one that looks too much like a MacBook.  Also check out the single patent claim - "The ornamental design for a portable computer, as shown and described." That's it. No generalisation, no fancy legal language. What you see in the pictures is all Apple get.


Likewise, the Community design right at the heart of the Apple vs Samsung dispute, only gives Apple a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners that also happen to look like an iPad. In this case, Samsung's rounded rectangle was found to be too similar to Apple's rounded rectangle. However, as ably demonstrated by Sony, there are other ways of making a tablet computer that neatly avoid Apple's designs.