Recently, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress reviewed the "Amendment to the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China (Second Review Draft)". The review draft made it clear that “any new design of the shape, the pattern, or their combination, or the combination of the color with shape or pattern, of part of the a product” can be protected through design patent, so the protection of partial designs in China is expected to be realized. Before that, it is necessary to understand multiple design patent applications of different types in China, so as to protect your design more comprehensively.
 
I. Related provisions
 
The Patent Law provides, “An application for a patent for design shall be limited to one design. Two or more similar designs of the same product or two or more designs which are incorporated in products belonging to the same class and being sold or used in set, may be filed as one application.”
 
Further, the Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law provides,
 
“Where two or more similar designs of the same product are filed in one application, the other designs of the product shall be similar to the main design indicated in the brief description.
 
The two or more designs belonging to the same class and being sold or used in set means that, each product incorporating the design belongs to the same class in the classification of products and is customarily sold or used at the same time, and the designs incorporated in each product have the same concept of design.”
 
In addition, the Guidelines for Patent Examination provides, “Combination product refers to a single product consisting of a number of components.”
 
According to the above provisions, there are three cases where multiple designs are allowed to be incorporated in one design application, i.e. 1) similar designs of the same product, 2) designs of the products in set and 3) designs of the combination product.
 
II. Similar designs of the same product
 
1. Requirements
The similar designs of the same products shall meet three requirements:
1) The designs are for same product;
2) The other designs of the product shall be similar to the main design;
3) Each design shall respectively meet the requirements for being granted a patent right.
 
As for the similar designs of the same product, there are two points, i.e. same product and similar designs.
 
For “same product”, for example, similar designs of a meal plate may be contained in a single design application. However, in the case that the designs are incorporated in a plate, a dish, a cup and a bowl respectively, although the products belong to the same class in the International Classification for Industrial Designs (i.e. the Locarno Classification), they are not so called “same product”.
 
For “similar designs”, in the brief description, one of the designs shall be designated as the main design. The remaining designs in the design application shall be similar to the main design. To be specific, the remaining designs have one or more features the same as or similar to the features of the main design, and the difference between the main design and other similar designs lies in slight partial changes, the conventional feature of the type of the product, repeated arrangement of the units, the change of color, or the like. It doesn’t require a similarity among all of the designs.
 
A patent application for similar designs can include designs of combination product. That is, similar designs of the same product can be mixed with the designs of combination product.
 
Finally, the number of similar designs in one design application shall be no more than 10.
 
2. Examples
There is a set of plates in different colors, the only difference is the color, so they can be filed as one application.

 
Another example is a set of eyeglass frames. The difference lies in slight partial changes, so they can also be filed as one application.

 
III. Designs of products in set
 
1. Requirements
Designs of products in set shall meet four requirements:
1) The products shall belong to the same subclass;
2) The products shall have the same designing concept; and
3) The products are customarily sold or used at the same time and have collective value of use;
4) Each design shall respectively meet the requirements for being granted a patent right.
So called “same designing concept” refers to the unity of the style of design of each product. That means the design of the shape, pattern or their combination, or the combination of the colour with shape or pattern of each product is unified. Generally, the designs shall share the common dominating features of design.
 
It should be noted that a patent application for designs of products in set shall not include similar designs of one or more products of the set of products. That is, similar designs of the same product shall not be mixed with the designs of products in set.
 
2. Examples
There is a set of coffee utensils consisting of coffee cup, coffee pot, milk pot and sugar pot. The products belong to the same class, and there are customarily sold and used at the same time, obviously, they have the same designing concept, so they can be filed as one application in the way of designs of products in set.

 
IV. Designs of combination product
 
1. Definition
When a single product consisting of a number of components, the designs of its components can be filed as one application in the way of designs of combination product.
 
The combination product could be divided into:
1) combination product without the need to assemble its components,
2) assembled product with only one option of assembly, and
3) assembled product with more than one option of assembly.
 
For the combination product without the need to assemble its components or assembled product with more than one option of assembly, the judgment shall target at the appearance of each individual component, rather than the appearance of the whole product. For the assembled product with only one option of assembly, the judgment shall target at the overall appearance of the product in the assembled states, rather than at the appearance of each individual components.
 
It should be noted that the right granted to a combination product is an inseparable right in respect of all its components, while a single piece of product in set or a similar design can be protected separately.
 
2. Examples
2.1 Combination product without the need to assemble its components
 
This example is a a chess consisting of 17 chess pieces and 1 chess board, and there is no assembly relationship between them.

2.2 Assembled product with only one option of assembly
 
This example is a telephone consisting of a telephone main body, a microphone, and a telephone line, this telephone is an assembled product with only one option of assembly.

 
2.3 Assembled product with more than one option of assembly
 
This example is a cleaning tool consisting of a handle, a main body and a storage box. In the combined state 1, the handle and the main body are installed and stored in the storage box; in the combined state 2, the handle and the main body are both stored in the storage box.

 
Ⅴ. Suggestions for choosing an application style
 
1. File on application for similar designs
It is best to file one application for similar designs together. If you file for similar designs separately, the examiner may think that these designs are identical, so the applicant can only submit one of them, otherwise both patent applications will be rejected. In addition, the protection of multiple similar designs in one granted patent is the same as the protection obtained after these designs are filed separately. And filing them together can reduce the cost of the application.
 
2. Ingenious use of designs of the products in set and designs of the combination product
1) When the product to be filed meets the requirements of both the products in set and the combination product, and each component or component product is significantly different from the prior design, it is recommended filing a patent application for designs of the products in set.
 
2) When the product to be filed meets the requirements of both the products in set and the combination product, and each component or component product is the same as or similar to the prior design, but it has a unique effect when combined, it is recommended filing a patent application for designs of the combination product.
 
3) When the product to be filed does not meet the conditions of products in set, and each individual component does not meet the grant conditions independently, such as playing cards and chess, etc., it is recommended filing a patent application for designs of the combination product.
 
4) When the product to be filed does not meet the conditions of products in set, and some components meet grant conditions independently, if the component is significantly different from the prior design, it is recommended filing a patent application for designs of the combination product and also filing applications for said components separately. In this way, while protecting the design in the combined state, part of the products can be protected.
 
3. Take a single innovation point as the smallest unit of application
A product may contain multiple innovation points, and patents will be easily circumvented. The applicant may file a patent application for each innovation point to form a multiple patent layout, and should not file for the entire product as a patent in order to save costs.
 
The design is not as simple as imagined, it is necessary for applicants to understand the different types of design in order to adopt reasonable strategies to protect their products.