Broken Lines are Dashed: USPTO Finally Modernizes Design Patent Guidance for GUIs, VR and AR

"The most immediate practice change is that the Office is officially removing the MPEP requirement that drawings depict a display panel in solid or broken lines. However, the USPTO didn't just open the floodgates to patenting disembodied images. They picked a middle ground: to satisfy the Section 171 article of manufacture requirement without drawing a screen, the burden now shifts to the title and claim language."

"You cannot simply claim an "icon" or a "graphical user interface." Under the new guidance, applicants should still designate the article of manufacture within th... The design must be explicitly clear in the application that the design is for a computer or computer system."

"For years, design patent practitioners dealing with graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and icons have been shackled to the ghost of Ex parte Strijland. If you wanted to get a case through the USPTO for a GUI or an icon, you had to meticulously include a broken line depicting a display screen or monitor. Under the old MPEP 1504.01(a) regime, the effect of the GUI was treated essentially as surface ornamentation applied to that specific physical screen to satisfy the "article of manufacture" requirement under 35 U.S.C. § 171."

"On March 13, 2026, the USPTO formally published its Supplemental Guidance for Examination of Design Patent Applications Related to Computer-Generated Interfaces and Icons (91 FR 12394). Public comments are due by midnight on May 12, 2026."

The USPTO updated examination guidance for design patent applications involving computer-generated interfaces and icons. The guidance removes the prior requirement that drawings depict a display panel in solid or broken lines. Applicants no longer need to include a screen depiction to satisfy the “article of manufacture” requirement under 35 U.S.C. § 171. Instead, the application must clearly identify the design as being for a computer or computer system through title and claim language. Applicants cannot rely on generic terms like “icon” or “graphical user interface” alone. Public comments are due by May 12, 2026, following publication on March 13, 2026.

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