Working on protecting your product’s appearance with a design patent? If you are currently doing this or planning to go this route, you are making a great choice for the future of your product and company. That’s amazing!
However, preparing and filing a design patent application has its difficulties. You may have a clear vision of your design, but how do you translate this into a patent application that truly protects your invention? It can be a bit tricky.
One of the common areas of confusion is understanding the difference between contour lines and claimed features in design patents. So, what’s the big deal? And what problems can arise when you’re not careful?
Today, our patent attorney will answer these questions and make the difference easy for you to understand.
What Are Contour Lines in Design Patents?
Let’s say you invented a product. Your product is likely a 3D shape in real life. When you’re submitting a design pattern, however, you will have to show your product as a 2D drawing. Makes sense so far, right?
This is where contour lines come in. Contour lines in design patterns are used to show the surface curves and edges of your design. They make your design look more 3D – closer to what it would look like in real life. This helps give depth and dimension to your drawing. It makes it easier for someone to understand the shape and texture of your product. They can get a better idea of what your product would look like in real life.
Without contour lines, it would be hard to tell where a surface curves or where a flat area begins to slope. Basically, they can illustrate the subtle changes in the surface of your design. This is why they’re often used in technical drawings.
Contour lines can be added easily with computer software. Because they are illustrative tools meant to show what a design really looks like, these lines themselves are not part of the actual product design. They are not something you want to patent as part of your design; they are just there to show what your design would look like in 3D.
Contour lines are an important and handy addition to your drawing when you’re submitting a design pattern. But as we’ll talk about later on in this article, they need to be used carefully.
What Are Claimed Features?
Claimed features are the parts of your design that you want to protect with your patent. They can be elements that make your design unique. As part of your patent, they are legally enforceable.
Let’s say your design has a specific shape or a particular ornamental feature that is a central part of your product — those would be your claimed features. They are at the core of your design pattern. If someone copies these features, they could be infringing on your patent. Working with an invention patent attorney ensures that these critical features are properly protected, preventing unauthorized use and infringement.
This is what makes them different from contour lines. Unlike contour lines, which are supposed to be descriptive, claimed features are actual parts of your design that you want to protect from being copied.
As you can see, there is an important distinction between contour lines and claimed features. They are two totally different things and are included in your drawing for two different reasons.
Why This Matters: The Case of simplehuman vs. iTouchless
“Okay,” you think, “I get it. There is a difference between claimed features and contour lines. But what’s the big deal?”
The reason why this is so important can be best understood by looking at a real-world example — something that recently happened in the U.S. just a few years ago.
In 2020, there was the case of simplehuman, LLC vs. iTouchless Housewares and Products Inc. The two companies were in a dispute over design patents related to trash cans. What was the issue? The design patent included lines that simplehuman argued were just contour lines meant to show the shape of the product. However, iTouchless argued that these lines were actually claimed features of the design.
What Did the Court Say?
The court agreed with iTouchless. They stated that the lines in question were not just for showing contours but were indeed claimed features. Why? Because the lines weren’t used consistently across the design, and there was no clear indication that they were meant as contour lines. For example, the line thickness of the claimed features and the contour lines was the same.
The decision meant that the lines in simplehuman’s design patents were considered part of the protected design. This ruling had significant consequences. iTouchless benefited from this decision because it allowed them to argue that simplehuman had overstepped the bounds of their design patent. For simplehuman, this was a setback. They suffered because the court’s interpretation meant their design was less flexible. This meant that it would now be easier for competitors like iTouchless to avoid infringement by altering minor aspects of their products.
This outcome shows the importance of being crystal clear about what your lines represent in your patent drawings. Ambiguity can lead to legal vulnerabilities, as you can see in this case.
If you want to avoid getting into a situation like this, it’s essential to clearly distinguish between contour lines and claimed features in your design patent applications.
How to File a Design Patent Application the Right Way
This case is a cautionary tale for anyone who is about to file a design patent. So, how can you make sure your design patent application does not make the same mistake? Here are some patent drawing guidelines you should stick to in order to avoid running into similar issues:
- Be Clear and Consistent: If you’re using contour lines in your design drawings, make sure they are used consistently. Inconsistencies can lead to misunderstandings about what’s being claimed as part of the design.
- Use Proper Shading: Sometimes, using shading instead of contour lines can make it clearer what parts of the design are flat, curved, or textured. Shading can help indicate contours without being mistaken for claimed features.
- Differentiate Your Lines: Consider using different line weights or breaks in the lines to distinguish between contour lines and claimed features. This can make it easier for others (and the court) to understand what’s what in your drawings.
- Add Clarifying Statements: You can also include statements in your patent application that clarify what the lines in your drawings are meant to represent. This can prevent any misinterpretation down the line.
Patenting A Design the Right Way
A good design patent application is all about clarity. The last thing you want is for your carefully crafted design to be misunderstood or not fully protected because of some lines on a drawing.
This is why it’s so important to know the difference between contour lines and claimed features and to be meticulous in how you represent your design when filing your product design patent. That’s why working with an intellectual property attorney when preparing your product design patent is essential to ensure the patent offers the right protection for your innovation. Stick to our design patent guide to avoid any missteps.
If you’re still not entirely sure how to patent a product or how to patent a design idea without running into issues, we at Mario Milano Law Firm are here to help. Sometimes, it’s better to reach out to a professional. This can avoid issues with your design patent application and things like contour lines versus claimed features.
You can contact us anytime — we’ll get back to you and help guide you through the process of how to file a design patent the right way.
