A common question I get is “can I patent my website’s graphical user interface (GUI)?” (i.e. “Can I patent the look of my website or my App?”) The answer is yes, you can patent your GUI with a 15-year nonprovisional design patent. A design patent protects the novel visual appearance of the image(s) on your site. The patent examination rules refer to GUIs as “2D Computer-Generated Icons,” which may be §101 eligible subject matter if they conform with certain rules (see: USPTO MPEP §1504.01(a) Computer-Generated Electronic Images).
Keep in mind that a GUI design patent protects the ornamental appearance of the screen (the look of it), not its novel features, functionality or back-end network architecture. A design patent also can’t try to patent a sequence of images from page to page, from menu-to-menu. One can’t design-patent the GUI’s in a chronological fashion as a crafty method of patenting the site’s utility; they’re onto that. (See: USPTO Design Patenting Guide). If the applicant tries this, the Examiner in Art Unit 2900 et seq will issue a Restriction requiring an Election and probably a requisite follow-up Continuation Application, thereby adding to costs and falling short of the applicant’s ‘functionality/utility’ goal. (See: MPEP §8202.02).
How is a GUI Patentable?
To meet the patentability 35 U.S.C. §101 “article of manufacture” requirement outlined in 35
U.S.C. §171, a GUI may be patentable if the two-dimensional image is shown on a computer screen, monitor or other display device (or a partial visually novel section of the screen). Remember the Ornamental Appearance of the article is key here, so a fairly common “WixTM/WordPressTM” template site with ShutterstockTM style images won’t do. Neither will your website’s “layout,” unless the layout itself presents a novel ornamental design likening to an “icon.”
Think grassroots/hand-drawn/artistic (though CAD-drawn is obviously okay). Shoot for images with figurative elements that would be novel designs if they stood alone (away from your screen); aim for images that could be a logo sufficient for purely-graphic trademark registration.
Furthermore, it is crucial for your application to include certain features in the title and drawings: Use an application title like “DISPLAY SCREEN (OR SECTION THEREOF) WITH GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE.”
Another Effective Technique is to tease-out (and patent) what the GUI is really showing, and then title the Design Patent Application in a fashion that matches the substance (and tailor your Drawings to match).
For example, for one of my inventor-clients (a Bay Area tech-sales head-hunter who’d invented a platform for digesting, organizing and displaying tech sales resumes), I simply titled the Design Patent “Colored Resume.” Using this technique, the inventor successfully patented “the look” of his novel resume, which is now [incidentally] memorialized on a his home platform screen / GUI.
What’s Required for the Design Patent Drawings?
In addition to showing the 2D image in black-and-white line drawings, the GUI design patent drawing should show the “outer bounds/screen” of the GUI in broken lines. To this end, the Spec should say “. . . the broken lines in the figures show a display screen or portion thereof, and form no part of the claimed design.”
In the case of “Colored Resume US D 968,510,” I also filed a petition for color drawings, making the case that color was necessary. While color drawings are technically disallowed in design applications (see: MPEP 608.02), the issued patent states “the patent file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.” Mission accomplished!
How Many Drawings (Views) are Ideal for a GUI Design Patent Application?
The official rule is “[t]he design must be represented by drawing[s] that contain a sufficient number of views to constitute a complete disclosure of the appearance of the design.
Appropriate and adequate surface shading should be used to show the character or contour of the surfaces represented.” MPEP §1503.02
In my experience, design patents for three-dimensional objects typically require at least seven views: front, rear, top, bottom, left, right and one landscape 45° perspective elevational. Since a GUI is a two-dimensional image, a single view may suffice. However, as described above, if you use the technique of patenting the substance of the GUI (patenting an image that happens to appear, inter alia, on the screen), then do the seven-views method.
Note: Story-board/chronological series drawings trying to patent the menu-functionality of your site are disfavored. Multiple chronological (aka different) images/embodiments comprised within one application will be rejected under §112 or under 35 USC § 132(a). If your multiple GUIs (the distinct images on various pages of your site) are independently novel, go with separate design applications.
Lastly, finding a patent illustrator who understands the nuances of rendering and drawing these views is key. Ask to see the draftsman’s issued patents. If you see shading reminiscent of old school patents like Edison’s lightbulb (Incandescent Lamp) or VelcroTM (Separable Fastening Device) or Jobs’ iPhoneTM (Electronic Device), then if it’s under ~ $175 per sheet, hire!
Takeaway: while patenting a website’s computer implemented methods present tricky §101 issues, the GUI’s of those sites are surprisingly easy to patent via design patents. Be sure to get the drawing views and shading right, petition for color if needed, title the application correctly and give the broken lines disclaimer in the Spec, and consider avoiding the words “computer generated electronic image” entirely by design-patenting the substance of what’s on the GUI rather than characterizing it as a GUI at all.
https://ipwatchdog.com/2024/12/06/novel-guis-design-patents-techniques-benefits/id=183790/
