USPTO Expands Design Patent Protection for Computer-Generated Interfaces and Icons

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued supplemental examination guidance for design patent applications directed to computer-generated interfaces and icons, expanding flexibility for applicants seeking protection for digital designs. The updated guidance reflects the USPTO’s continuing effort to ensure that design patent practice evolves alongside rapid advances in digital interfaces and immersive computing technologies.

The supplemental guidance issued on March 12, 2026, addresses computer-generated electronic images and responds to the stakeholder feedback that aspects of the existing framework unnecessarily limited applicants’ options when drafting design applications.

Among other changes, the USPTO removes the requirement that drawings depict a display panel or portion thereof in many applications directed to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) or icons. The guidance also clarifies acceptable titles and claim language and recognizes new and expanded categories of potentially patent-eligible digital designs, including projected, holographic, and virtual or augmented reality interfaces.

The guidance applies to all design patent applications and proceedings filed before, on, or after their effective date and will be incorporated into the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP).

BACKGROUND

Design patents protect new, original, and ornamental designs for an article of manufacture under 35 USC § 171. Historically, courts and the USPTO have required that a claimed design be applied to or embodied in a tangible article, rather than constituting merely a picture or disembodied image.

For computer-generated images, such as icons and GUIs, this requirement traditionally led to the practice of showing the digital design as surface ornamentation on a display screen or portion thereof, often as a dashed or dash-dot-dash border around the claimed feature.

As discussed in our December 14, 2023 LawFlash, in November 2023 the USPTO issued initial guidance explaining how examiners should determine whether claims directed to computer-generated electronic images satisfy the article-of-manufacture requirement. Following publication of that guidance, stakeholders submitted comments suggesting that certain requirements, particularly the requirement to depict a display screen in drawings, limited flexibility for applicants.

The USPTO’s March 2026 supplemental guidance addresses those concerns.

REMOVAL OF DISPLAY PANEL DRAWING REQUIREMENT

The most significant change introduced by the guidance is the removal of the requirement in MPEP § 1504.01(a) that drawings depict a display panel or portion thereof for design patent applications directed to computer-generated interfaces or icons.

Under the prior approach, examiners were instructed to reject claims under 35 USC § 171 if the drawings failed to depict the display screen, the article of manufacture, in solid or broken lines. Under the new guidance:

Going forward, if both the title and claim identify an appropriate article of manufacture (such as a computer, computer display, or computer system), the drawings need not depict the display panel.

Applicants may still depict the display panel, such as using broken lines to illustrate a display region, but doing so is now optional rather than mandatory.

CLARIFIED CLAIM AND TITLE LANGUAGE

The guidance also clarifies that claim language indicating that a design is “for” a computer, computer display, or computer system adequately identifies an article of manufacture.

Examples of acceptable formulations include:

Icon for a display screen
Graphical user interface for a computer
Projected interface for a computer system
Virtual reality interface for a computer

According to the USPTO, the use of the word “for” signals that the design is tied to an article of manufacture, rather than claiming a transient or disembodied image.

Applicants may continue using traditional claim formats, such as “display screen with graphical user interface,” but the guidance confirms that these formulations are no longer required.

RECOGNITION OF EMERGING INTERFACE TECHNOLOGIES

The supplemental guidance reflects the USPTO’s expanded understanding of design patent protection in light of advances in digital interface technologies.

In particular, the USPTO recognizes that computer-generated interfaces and icons may exist beyond traditional display screens, including through:

• Projected interfaces or icons
• Holographic interfaces
• Virtual reality interfaces
• Augmented reality interfaces

Such designs may qualify as patent-eligible subject matter when they are for a computer, computer display, or computer system and are not merely transient or disembodied images.

The USPTO notes that the statutory concept of an “article of manufacture” is interpreted broadly, supporting design protection for digital interfaces generated by modern computing systems.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR APPLICANTS

The updated guidance provides greater flexibility for applicants seeking design protection for modern user interface designs.

Among other benefits, design applicants in the US may now:

• Prepare simpler drawings that do not depict display screens;
• Draft claims using flexible formulations tying the design “for” a computer or computing system;
• Prepare simpler descriptions of virtual 3D designs such as virtual renderings of products;
• Choose from a wider range of titles to broaden or narrow the perceived scope and potentially limit relevant prior art; and
• Seek protection for designs associated with emerging computing environments, including AR, VR, and projected interfaces.

Applicants should nevertheless ensure that applications provide clear written descriptions and sufficient drawing views to fully disclose the claimed design.

LOOKING AHEAD

The USPTO notes that the guidance does not constitute substantive rulemaking, but rather internal examination guidance. The policies described in the guidance will be incorporated into the MPEP.

The USPTO is accepting public comments for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.