The partial design system was introduced in the 4th Amendment of Patent Law of the People's Republic of China implemented on June 1, 2021. The specific provisions and requirements on partial design are involved in the Amendment Draft of the Guidelines for Patent Examination (Exposure Draft) issued on August 3, 2021. In this paper, the requirements of application documents and relevant examination regulations on partial design are summarized for reference on the basis of the exposure draft.
“Partial design” means any new design of the shape, the pattern, or their combination, or the combination of the color with shape or pattern, of part of a product, which creates an aesthetic feeling and is fit for industrial application.
An application of an inalienable part of a product claiming for protection should be filed as a partial design, for example, “carved pattern on a seat back” and “tyre tread of an automobile tyre”.
2. Product name of partial design For an application for partial design, a part claiming for protection and a whole product to which it belongs should be indicated in the name of the product, for example, “door of automobile” and “camera of mobile phone”.
3. Submission of drawings or photographs of partial design As stipulated by Rule 30.2 of the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, where an application for a patent for partial design is filed, a view of the whole product shall be submitted, and contents to be protected shall be indicated with dotted line and solid line, or in other manners.
The view of the whole product shall clearly show the partial design of a product sought for protection, and the location and proportion thereof in the whole product. Where a part claiming for protection is three-dimensional, the view submitted shall include a three-dimensional view that is able to clearly show this part.
The view submitted shall be able to clearly distinguish the part claiming for protection from other parts. When the contents to be protected are indicated with dotted line and solid line, the solid line represents the part claiming for protection, and the dotted line represents other parts. The contents to be protected may also be indicated in other manner, for example, parts which are not sought for protection may be covered with a semitransparent layer in one color. The boundary between the part claiming for protection and other parts in the partial design shall be shown by dot-dash lines.
Because solid lines and dotted lines are allowed to be used in drawings of the partial design to indicate the contents to be protected, the making requirements of the drawings are adjusted as follows: provisions on normal projection, width of lines, and section mark of the state standards of technical drawings and mechanical drawings, and solid lines of uniform thickness shall be used to show the shape of the design. Shadow lines and dot-dash lines shall not be used to show the shape of the design. Two parallel double-dotted lines or natural geosutures can be used to show the omitted part of a long and thin product. Indicative lines may be used in the drawings to show the section place and direction, enlarged parts, and transparent parts, etc., but unnecessary lines and marks, such as central lines and size lines, are not allowable.
4. Brief explanation of partial design Where an application for a patent for partial design is filed, a brief explanation of the partial design shall be in accordance with the following regulations:
(1) Where a partial design sought for protection is shown in other manners except solid lines and dotted lines, a part claiming for protection shall be indicated in the brief explanation.
(2) Where the boundary line between the part claiming for protection and other parts is shown by a dot-dash line, it shall be indicated in the brief explanation when necessary.
(3) The use of the partial design sought for protection shall be indicated when necessary, and shall correspond to the use embodied by the name of the product.
(4) A drawing or photograph that is designated to best show the essential features of the design shall include the partial design sought for protection.
5. Partial design of products relating to graphical user interfaces Partial design of products relating to graphical user interfaces is any design of products with main design features including graphical user interfaces. The applicant may file an application as a whole design or a partial design of a product.
Where the main design features only lie in the appearance design of products relating to graphical user interfaces, the applicant may file an application as a partial design. The partial design application could be filed with graphical user interfaces.
It should be indicated in the brief explanation that the main design features only lie in the graphical user interface or part of the graphical user interface.
(1) A partial design application filed with a product including the graphical user interface being shown in the views To clearly show the location and proportion of the graphical user interface design in the final product, the application may file a partial design application with a product including the graphical user interface.
The application shall submit an orthographic projection view of a side of the product relating to the graphical user interface, and a view of the graphical user interface when necessary. The views shall be submitted in accordance with the provisions in the third section in this paper (Submission of drawings or photographs of partial design).
Where the applicant files an application of a patent of design for part of the graphical user interface, a part claiming for protection shall be indicated in the name of the product, such as “search bar of graphical user interface for mobile payment of mobile phone”. The use of the partial design sought for protection shall be indicated in the brief explanation.
(2) A partial design application filed without a product including graphical user interface being shown in the views For a graphical user interface applicable to any electronic devices, the applicant may file an application without a product the graphical user interface being shown in the views.
The name of the product shall include the keyword “electronic device”, for example, “VOD graphical user interface for electronic device” and “road-navigation graphical user interface for electronic device”.
The applicant may only submit the view of the graphical user interface. The use of the product in the brief explanation may be summarized to an electronic device.
Where the applicant files a partial design application for part of the graphical user interface, a part claiming for protection shall be indicated in the name of the product, for example, “search bar of graphical user interface for partial design sought for protection shall be indicated in the brief explanation.
6. Non-patentable situations for partial design
(1) Partial design that is unable to form an independent area separable from a product or constitute a complete design unit is non-patentable, for example, a turning line of a cup handle, any irregular part of a spectacle lens.
(2) If the partial design claiming for protection is merely a design of the pattern, or a combination of the pattern and color of the surface of a product, this partial design is non-patentable, for example, a pattern on the surface of a motorcycle.
7. Multi designs application of partial design Designs of two or more disconnected parts of the same product may be filed as one multi design application if the two parts are associated in function or design and create a specific visual effect, for example, the designs of two legs of spectacles, the designs of four corners of a mobile phone.
Each of designs of products in set shall be whole design of the products rather than partial design of the products.
8. Divisional application of partial design (1) Where the design of the initial application is a design of a whole product, it is not allowed to take only part of the product of the design as the subject matter of the divisional application. For example, where a patent application is filed to protect the design of a motorcycle as a whole, no divisional application may be filed for the design of its parts or components.
(2) Where the design of the initial application is a design of one part of a product, it is not allowed to take the whole or other part of the product of the design as the subject matter of the divisional application.
9. Unacceptable amendments of partial design Amendments made not within the two-month time limit or made in the response to the Office Action will not be accepted in the following cases:
(1) An amendment from a whole design of a product to a partial design of the product; a whole design of the product;
(3) Amendment of a partial design of one part of a whole product into a partial design of another part of the whole product.