In the world of furniture design, aesthetics often play as crucial a role as functionality since the unique appearance of a furniture piece can set it apart in a competitive marketplace and help establish a brand’s identity. Fortunately, design patents are uniquely suited to protect the visual innovation embedded in furniture designs, and can help to safeguard company investment in the creation of unique offerings.
While utility patent applications may be used to protect functional aspects of furniture, design patents are the preferred method to protect any unique and ornamental visual qualities of these products, including any particular shape or configuration, surface ornamentation, or a combination thereof. That is, design patents focus on how a product looks, for example, the ornamental design of a headboard or footboard of a bed. In an industry where design is paramount, having a unique design that is protected, preferably with a multi-variate or iterative design patent thicket, can provide offensive and defensive support against competitors who might try to copy the design. However, building these design patent portfolios in a cost effective and efficient manner requires a thoughtful strategy and must be implemented as early as possible once the design of the furniture piece has been finalized.
As in other industries, furniture companies often rely on distinct designs to build their brand identity, and a series of design patents directed to a particular piece can create a patent thicket surrounding a recognizable product line that consumers may associate with a specific brand. For example, a bedframe has several core components, including a headboard and a footboard, and while a design patent directed to the entire bed frame does provide value against copying the entire look and feel, portion claiming through one or more design patent filings can protect core design features in a targeted fashion. An example is shown directly below, where only a portion of the headboard is claimed, which can be leveraged against design imitators that only attempt to imitate the aspects shown in solid lines in the design drawings.
FIGS, 1 and 9 of U.S. Design Patent No. D893232 for a “Bed Frame”
The example above provides an illustration of how a portion design claim can be leveraged to protect the unique curvature of a bed’s headboard, which can be juxtaposed with the example provided directly below, where the entire headboard and the entire footboard are claimed in solid lines. Both strategies provide value, and implementing such strategies for the same bed frame design can help to build a thicket of design patents that may cause competitors to think twice before entering the market with a similar looking bed frame and can certainly be leveraged in combination in any dispute against the competitor.
FIG. 1 of U.S. Design Patent No. D479056 for a “Bed”
Furthermore, and as shown above, design patents can be particularly effective at protecting unique visual elements of furniture pieces, such as detailed engravings, patterns, or artistic motifs that, in limited circumstances, can later develop into trademarks that serve as a source identifier for a particular brand. Such trade dress or trademark protection can be difficult to obtain, but once secured, can be a powerful weapon against competitors for as long as the mark is used in commerce.
Finally, in a previous post, we discussed a decision by the Review Board of the United States Copyright Office that reversed a prior refusal to register a copyright for the artistic elements of a bed. While that decision demonstrated that copyright protection can be obtained for aspects of furniture in certain circumstances, design patents certainly provide much more complete protection for the overall ornamental design of furniture items, and are the preferred vehicle for protection of any such product.
