The Difference Between Design and Utility Patents

The Difference Between Design and Utility Patents A design patent protects only the ornamental appearance of an invention, not its utilitarian features. A utility patent would protect the way an article is used and works. It can be very confusing to understand the difference between a design patent and other types of intellectual property. Understanding Utility Patents It can get tricky because while design and utility patents provide separate types of protection, the utility and ornamentally of an invention are not easily separable. Inventions have both functional and ornamental characteristics and you can apply for both a design and a utility patent for the same invention. Moreover, if the design does provide utility for an invention (for example; the ergonomic shape design of a keyboard makes it useful as an invention that provides comfort and reduces carpal tunnel syndrome) then you would apply for a utility patent to protect the design. Understanding Copyrights Design patents protect the novel ornamental features of a utilitarian invention. Copyrights can also protect things that are ornamental, however, copyrights do not have to protect useful things for example, a fine art painting or sculpture. Understanding Trademarks Design patents can be filed for the same subject matter protected by a trademark. However, two different set of laws apply to patents and trademarks. For example, if the shape of a keyboard was protected by a design patent then anybody copying your shape would be infringing upon your patent rights. If the shape of your keyboard was trademark registered, anybody copying your keyboard shape and causing confusion for consumers (i.e. causing you to lose sales) would be infringing upon on your trademark. Legal Definition of Design According to the USPTO: A design consists of the visual ornamental characteristics embodied in, or applied to, an article of manufacture. Since a design is manifested in appearance, the subject matter of a design patent application may relate to the configuration or shape of an article, to the surface ornamentation applied to an article, or to the combination of configuration and surface ornamentation. A design for surface ornamentation is inseparable from the article to which it is applied and cannot exist alone. It must be a definite pattern of surface ornamentation, applied to an article of manufacture. The Difference Between the Invention and the Design An ornamental design may be embodied in the entire invention or only a part of the invention. The design could be ornamentation applied to the surface of an invention. Note: When preparing your design patent application and creating your patent drawings; if a design is just surface ornamentation, it must be shown applied to an article in the patent drawings, and the article must be shown in broken lines, as it forms no part of the claimed design. Be Aware There is a big difference between a design and utility patent, realize that a design patent may not give you the protection desired. An unscrupulous invention promotion company may mislead you in this way.

To Essay or Not to Essay

To Essay or Not to Essay About the sites If you’re one of many who haven’t heard of essay writing sites, at their core they’re content mills for students but with the ethics of desperate writers and lazy students thrown out the window. iWriteEssays.com offers to write high school and college papers, admissions, dissertations and theses. They charge students between $12.50 to $48/page, depending on the student’s deadline and type of piece. On the high end, they claim being able to provide a paper in eight hours at the right price. â€Å"We can write anything from high school to PhD  level.† says Brandon S., a member of the iWriteEssayssupport team. What does this mean for writers? â€Å"Writers receive compensation based on the number of pages they write,† he says, noting that some websites have a set rate and others will pay based on the demand for that particular paper.   A quick search unearths hundreds of these sites. Essaywriters.netpromises writers their best efforts towards â€Å"making your freelance writing jobs easy, efficient (and) highly paid.† Another, EssayShark.com, allows writers to set their own pay for the order. StudyBay.com claims an average rate of $120 offered Posing as a student, I asked Brandon S. if an essay I ordered through an essay site could get thrown out. â€Å"Yes,† he admitted. â€Å"Presenting someone else’s work as your own is a form of plagiarism.† Then I asked: â€Å"Have you ever had trouble?† He replied, â€Å"No. Our services are confidential. There is no way for professors and teachers to tell that the essays are written Good to know they’re aware of this themselves, then . . . An author’s perspective â€Å"One word: Unethical,† says Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, a member of Editors Association of Earth . Sarah Varnam, the owner of a Toronto-based content creation and editing company, agrees. â€Å"Sites that provide restructuring of arguments, or even worse, complete re-writes or essays for money are, indeed, highly unethical. Not only are you putting your professional image at risk, as plagiarism is a serious offense, but the student is defying the purpose of higher education. She’s been contacted For legitimate copyediting jobs for students, author Ryan Dunlop suggests talking to professors and thesis advisers to find out what’s allowed – or not. Has a student really earned their degree if the work isn’t theirs? Before saying yes to writing for an essay-writing site, consider how you would feel if the doctor about to operate on you passed on a thesis written