A design patent protects the ornamental appearance of a product — its shape, surface pattern, or overall visual impression — separately from how it functions. For clients whose product's look is part of what makes it recognizable or hard to copy, it's a fast, affordable layer of protection alongside a utility patent.
A design patent covers the new, original, and ornamental appearance of a manufactured article — what the product looks like, not how it works. We regularly handle:
Design patents examine much faster than utility patents — often issuing within a year — and last 15 years from grant with no maintenance fees. They protect appearance only, not function, so a competitor can still build a device that works the same way as long as it looks meaningfully different; that's why design patents are usually paired with a utility patent rather than used alone.
A product's look and its function are usually protected by two different kinds of patents, and it's easy to miss one of them if you're only thinking about how an invention works. Craige Thompson evaluates both angles together — where the functional innovation is significant enough for a utility patent, and where the distinctive appearance is separately worth protecting with a design patent — so clients don't leave one form of protection on the table.
Tell us about your invention in a Complimentary Patent Needs Assessment. We'll tell you honestly whether it's patentable, what it would take to protect it, and what it would cost.
Get a Complimentary Patent Needs AssessmentA utility patent protects how an invention works — its function, mechanism, or method. A design patent protects only how it looks — its ornamental appearance. The same product can sometimes qualify for both, protecting different things.
15 years from the date it's granted, with no maintenance fees required to keep it in force — unlike a utility patent, which requires periodic maintenance fee payments over 20 years from filing.
Design patents typically examine much faster than utility patents, often within about a year, since examination focuses on the drawings rather than complex functional claims.
Yes, and it's common — the utility patent protects the functional innovation, and the design patent protects the distinctive look, giving broader protection than either alone.
Generally less than a utility patent, since the application centers on formal drawings rather than detailed written claims. We provide a specific estimate after reviewing your product in a Complimentary Patent Needs Assessment.
