Intellectual Property Department of New Le Kang answers for you:

With the continuous improvement of people's material and cultural living standards, people pay more and more attention to the appearance of goods besides their quality and performance. It brings remarkable economic benefits to the producers of industrial products.

However, design patents and trademarks are located on the surface and packaging of goods, and both of them are composed of specific graphics, which play a decorative role in the appearance of goods; After obtaining the exclusive right to use a trademark, it belongs to the scope of industrial property rights together with the patent right of design.

so most people don't know the difference.

Design patents and trademarks are protected by the Patent Law and the Trademark Law respectively. There are significant legal differences between design patents and trademarks, mainly in the following aspects:

First, the concepts are different. The design patent is a new design which focuses on the shape, pattern and color of the product or their combination, and is aesthetic and suitable for industrial application. The object of protection of the design patent is a decorative or artistic appearance design of the product, which can be a plane pattern or a three-dimensional shape. More commonly, it is a combination of the two. It emphasizes that this decorative or artistic appearance design must be applied to a specific product, and the most basic and important condition of the design patent is creativity and novelty. Trademark refers to the combination of words, graphics, letters, numbers, three-dimensional signs and colors or the combination of the above elements. A trademark is a specific logo pattern that distinguishes a product. It doesn't involve the shape and structure of the product itself at all, and it is mainly written, which is remarkable and not necessarily aesthetic, but it must have no prior registered trademark in the same or similar goods or services.

second, the procedures are different. A patent for design does not undergo substantive examination. If others present evidence of public use earlier than the patent at the time of patent application or after the patent right is granted, the patent for design will be declared invalid or revoked. A registered trademark must pass the substantive examination, and the exclusive right and exclusive right can only be obtained after the objection period. The examination procedure is strict.

thirdly, the protection period is different. The patent for design is valid for 1 years from the date of application and cannot be renewed. The term of validity of a registered trademark is 1 years, counting from the date of approval of registration. Where a registered trademark needs to be used continuously after its expiration, it shall apply for renewal of registration within 6 months before the expiration; If an application is not filed within this period, a six-month grace period may be granted. If an application is not filed after the grace period expires, its registered trademark shall be cancelled. Each renewal of registration is valid for 1 years.

fourth, the scope of protection is different. The protection scope of design patent is narrow. The scope of protection of the patent right of design is based on the design product shown in the picture or photograph. The scope of protection of trademarks is relatively wide, which includes not only the approved goods or services, but also the use of trademarks that are the same as or similar to their registered trademarks on the same or similar goods.

Fifth, the conditions for legal protection are different. The patent for design does not need to undergo substantive examination, but an application must be filed with the state patent administration authority, and no reason for rejection is found after preliminary examination, before the patent office grants the patent for design. It usually takes several months to approve an application for a patent for design. For a trademark, an application for trademark registration must be filed with the State Trademark Administration, and the registration is approved by the State Trademark Administration. Only the owner of the trademark can enjoy the exclusive right. At present, the application for trademark registration has nearly three years of approval and three months of objection period. Comparatively speaking, the acquisition of trademark right is more complicated than the acquisition of design patent right.

I hope the above answers can help you! ! !