Re: design patent - should I?
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Posted by M. Arthur Auslander on September 07, 1999 at 05:12:37:
In Reply to: design patent - should I? posted by Rob Robbins on September 07, 1998 at 21:05:58:
: I designed and built a bed that strikes me as unique and might be commercially valuable. I am planning to write an article for a woodworking magazine - should I patent the design? I've begun researching the government pages for info. : Thanks, : Rob Robbins
In the US it is not good practice to divulge an invention before an application is filed. In most of the rest of the world, rights are destroyed by doing that. If the bed that you have designed is a matter of look, an inexpensive design patent may be obtainable. The protection is very much limited to the look. There is not much protection with regard to variations of the look. If there is novelty beyond the "look" then a utility patent may be available. A good claim may be able to broadly cover the inventive part of the bed as distinguished from just its "picture". Don't show your article nor the bed until you have made a firm decision as to what you want and can do to best acheive your goal.
M. Arthur Auslander
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