Design Patents Involving GUIs Pose New Challenges

In China, pursuant to prior regulations?a “design displayed on a product when connected to power” clearly excluded it from being granted a design patent.

The Patent Examination Guidelines, revised in 2013 and entered into effect in 2014, expanded the scope of design patent protection, including matters related to graphical user interfaces (GUIs). However, it should be noted that the “GUI design” itself is still kept out of design patent protection while the “product with a GUI” is the one entitled to obtain patent protection.

Subsequently, GUI-related design patents began to appear in large numbers, especially in high-tech fields.

Recently, the Patent Examination Board of SIPO has published a decision declaring invalid a design patent for a mobile phone with a GUI. It is interesting to report that the decision was the first of its kind to invalidate a design patent involving a GUI.

From what has been revealed in this case, the examination of design patents involving GUIs is much more complex and requires higher levels of professionals involved compared to traditional cases. Meanwhile, from a practical viewpoint, it is foreseeable that proof-providing will turn out to be a new challenge when administrative and civil disputes arise around design patents involving GUIs.

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