——Strategies for forming a relatively independent area and constituting a relatively complete design unit

Introduction

With the rapid advancement of technology and intensifying global market competition, the standards for designing and manufacturing industrial products have reached unprecedented heights. In this context, ‌product appearance design‌ is not merely ‌an embodiment of aesthetic pursuit‌ but serves as ‌a critical strategic tool‌ for enterprises to ‌achieve differentiation‌ and ‌cultivate brand identity‌. As consumer demands for ‌personalized and differentiated products‌ increase, the pace of product iteration continues to accelerate. Consequently, ‌optimizing partial product designs‌ has emerged as ‌a pivotal innovation strategy‌ for enterprises. This trend has significantly amplified the need for ‌legal protection of partial designs‌. To address this demand, Chinese ‌Patent Law‌ was revised in 2020, formally integrating ‌partial designs‌ into the scope of ‌design patent protection‌. Further clarifications were introduced in the updated Guidelines for Patent Examination (2024) and Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law, which outline comprehensive regulations for ‌partial design patent applications‌ and ‌examination procedures‌. This paper systematically investigates ‌graphical representation and drafting methodologies for partial designs‌, combining theoretical analysis with case studies to offer ‌actionable insights‌ for practitioners in relevant fields.

1. Overview of Partial Design‌
‌1.1 Definition of Partial Design‌
Partial design refers to ‌a new design‌ applied to a ‌specific portion of a product‌, encompassing its ‌shape, pattern, or a combination thereof‌, as well as ‌color integrated with shape or pattern‌, and must exhibit ‌aesthetic appeal‌ and be ‌suitable for industrial application‌. Although limited to a localized area of the entire product, such partial designs often become ‌highlight features‌ that attract consumer attention and enhance the product’s ‌market competitiveness‌.

1.2 Significance of partial Design

‌Promoting Product Innovation‌: Improvements in partial designs stimulate corporate innovation, drive continuous optimization and upgrading of product design.

‌Meeting Market Demands‌: As consumer preferences diversify, partial designs offer flexibility to adapt to market shifts and fulfill personalized needs.

‌Strengthening Brand Competitiveness‌: Unique and visually compelling partial designs elevate product distinctiveness, reinforce brand identity, and secure strategic advantages in competitive markets.

2. Graphical Representation for Partial designs

2.1 Provisions in the Guidelines for Patent Examination

Section 4.4.2 of Chapter 3 in Part One of the Guidelines for Patent Examination, Design drawings or Photographs: According to Article 30 (2) of the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law, when submitting a design application for a partial design, views of the entire product shall be submitted, and the part claimed for patent protection shall be indicated by a combination of dashed lines and solid lines or other means.

The views of the entire product must clearly display the partial design claimed for patent protection, including its ‌position and proportional relationship‌ within the overall product. If the claimed part has a three-dimensional shape, the views must include a ‌three-dimensional view‌ that distinctly reveals the partial design.

In the submitted views, it should be possible to clearly distinguish the claimed parts from the non-claimed parts. When using a combination of dashed lines and solid lines to indicate the content that needs to be protected, the solid lines represent the claimed part, and the dashed lines represent the non-claimed parts. Other ways can also be used to indicate the content that needs to be protected, such as covering the non-claimed parts with a single color semi transparent layer. If there is no clear boundary between the claimed part and the non-claimed parts, a dash-dot line should be used to demarcate the claimed area from the non-claimed areas.

Section 7.4 of Chapter 3 in Part One of the Patent Examination Guidelines, ‌Patent Examination Guidelines Part I, Chapter 3, Section 7.4: ‌Circumstances Under Which Design Patent Rights Shall Not Be Granted:‌
(10) Partial designs that fail to form a ‌relatively independent area‌ on a product or constitute a ‌relatively complete design unit‌.
(11) Partial designs claimed for patent protection ‌exclusively consist of patterns or ‌combinations of patterns with colors‌ on a product surface‌.

2.2 a relatively independent area and a relatively complete design unit

As mentioned above, the Guidelines for Patent Examination explicitly state that partial designs that cannot form a relatively independent area on a product or constitute a relatively complete design unit shall not be granted patent rights. Therefore, when drafting a view for a partial design, it is essential to first clarify the scope of the claimed area involved in the design. This area should be a relatively independent part of the entire product, with defined boundaries or distinctive visual characteristics. A relatively independent area not only facilitates the examiners in understanding of the design’s content, but also clarifies the applicant’s intent for protection. When determining the scope of the claimed area, factors such as the structural characteristics of the product and the distribution of design elements are generally considered. The various design elements within the design area should be coordinated and unified with each other to form a relatively complete design unit. This design unit should possess independent aesthetic value and acheivea harmonious whole visually. In order to constitute a relatively complete design unit, designers need to pay attention to the coordination of design elements in terms of layout, proportion, color matching, etc., to ensure that the design presents unity and completeness visually.

3. Case Analysis

The following case analysis demonstrates methodologies for forming a relatively independent area and constituting a relatively complete design unit through specific cases.

Case 1

In the design shown in Figure 1, the partial design of the spoon head is represented through a combination of solid and dashed lines. The solid lines indicate the claimed part, while the dashed lines denote the non-claimed part. However, the demarcation line (the dash-dot line) separating the claimed part from other parts of the spoon traverses the monolithic spoon head portion. This results in the fact that the spoon head portion shown in solid lines fail to form a relatively complete design unit. Consequently, the design in Figure 1 fails to satisfy the requirements for partial design registration.

In contrast, the design shown in Figure 2 utilizes solid lines to fully delineate the ornamental features of the spoon head, expressly defining the claimed design scope. At the same time, by using a dash-dot line to clearly distinguish the area that requires protection from those that do not require protection, this representation method not only maintains the integrity of the spoon head design, but also accurately defines the scope of protection. Therefore, the design in Figure 2 forms a relatively independent area and constitutes a relatively complete design unit, which satisfies the requirements for partial design registration.

Figure 1                                                                               Figure 2

Case 2

As shown in Figure 3 below, this design seeks protection for an upper decorative element of a shoe. The external contour of the shoe is depicted with dashed lines, while the upper decorative element is drawn with solid lines. The solid-lined upper decorative element itself forms a complete design unit, and the solid lines enclose a closed, relatively independent area. Consequently, this design complies with the requirements for partial design protection.

As shown in Figure 4 below, this partial design also relates to an upper decorative element. Similar to the design in Figure 3, the overall contour of the shoe is drawn with dashed lines, but the upper decorative element is depicted with both solid lines and dashed lines.

It is important to note that, under current partial design regulations, this representation would be interpreted as seeking protection for only a portion of the upper decorative element—specifically, the part outlined in solid lines. Clearly, the solid-lined part does not constitute a relatively complete design unit. To address this issue, the zigzag dashed lines enclosing the upper decorative element could be revised to solid lines. This modification would fully enclose the claimed decorative element with solid lines, thereby forming a complete design unit.

Figure 3                                                                                                        Figure 4

Regarding the design shown in Figure 4, the applicant originally intended to use zigzag dashed lines to indicate that the corresponding section could adopt any shape, reflecting the applicant’s intent to protect a partial design of the upper decorative element. However, this protective intent clearly fails to meet the requirement of 'constituting a relatively complete design unit'. To address this, the applicant could submit multiple similar designs in the initial application. Specifically, the zigzag dashed portions may be ‌modified‌ to solid lines representing distinct shapes, thereby comprehensively covering the design concept. Once submitted, any attempt to modify the zigzag dashed lines to represent undisclosed shapes would constitute ‌an impermissible amendment.

4. Summary

When preparing views for partial design patents, it is essential to ‌clearly define the scope of the area covered by the new design‌ and ensure that this area forms ‌a relatively independent area‌ and constitutes ‌a relatively complete design unit‌. When the claimed parts have a ‌physical boundary‌, the claimed parts ‌must be fully outlined with solid lines‌. If theclaimed parts constitute a ‌relatively complete design unit‌ but there is no demarcation line to separate the claimed parts‌ from other parts, ‌dashed-dotted lines‌ should be used to demarcate the claimed parts from the non-claimed parts.