Revised Examination Guidelines for Designs Enacted on March 31, 2017

Revised Examination Guidelines for Designs began being applied to applications examined starting April 1, 2017. The primary revisions are as follows:

Revision Clarifying the Application of a Rule Related to the Exceptions for Lack of Novelty

A new format certifying that an application is eligible for the Exception to Lack of Novelty has been provided by the new guidelines.　A certification made by an applicant declaring eligibility for the Exception to Lack of Novelty will be allowable; however, the guidelines recommend that applicants arrange for certifications to be provided by third parties in order to maintain objectivity with respect to the disclosure of designs.
In the event that an applicant submits a certification with their own signature, the document can be supplemented with a certification signed by a third party.

2) Requirements for Describing Applications and Drawings

The previous Examination Guidelines for Designs required applicants to state in the application that the drawings included shading to represent three-dimensional shapes. Under the recent revisions, however, applicants are no longer required to make statements regarding the use of special lines e.g. dotted lines if the lines are clearly used for specifying designs’ shapes.
These rule changes also apply to shadows used for figures created by CG. The revisions also hold that statements in the specification mentioning the use of background color are not necessary, if the coloring is clearly used for background
purposes in CG drawings.

3) Changes as to How to Handle Reference Drawings

Under the previous guidelines various types of reference drawings had been filed by applicants not only for the purpose of helping with the recognition of acceptable drawings, but also for the purpose of adding various implementations. However, the best manner with regard to how to handle the reference drawings was unclear because reference drawings in one case would be considered while in another case an applicant would be required to file a voluntary amendment deleting the reference drawings, and in yet another case the office action did not address the drawings.
Under the new guidelines, reference drawings describing shapes different from the designs from the claimed minimum drawings will not be taken into consideration when examining an application.