November 14, 2025 \nA patent application may, in principle, be converted into a design application at any time while it is pending examination. \nThe applicant before and after the conversion must be the same. \nThe design to be converted must be disclosed in the original patent specification and drawings. \nOnce a patent application is converted into a design application, the resulting design application is deemed to have been filed on the same date as the original patent application.\n<\/p>\n If, at the time of the original patent filing:<\/p>\n \nsuch documents are deemed to have been submitted to the Japan Patent Office simultaneously with the new design application after conversion.\n<\/p>\n \nFurthermore, the original patent application is deemed to have been withdrawn as a result of the conversion.\n<\/p>\n \nConversion from a patent application to a design application serves as a flexible tool for reconsidering the nature of protection needed. Conversion may be considered, for example, when:<\/p>\n \nConversion to either full designs or partial designs is permitted. \nPatent Application No. 2019-119532 (2019) (Unpublished) \nThe Utility Model Act protects technical creations related to structure and shape, whereas the Design Act protects the visual appearance of products. \nAt the patent application stage, it is effective to include multiple candidate six-view drawings of possible designs. Converting patent application to a design application\u3000 November 14, 2025 Akihiro Ryuka Patent Attorney (Japan) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-designs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25627,"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25626\/revisions\/25627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ryuka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAkihiro Ryuka
\nPatent Attorney (Japan) \/ Attorney-at-Law (California)<\/strong><\/p>\n1. Requirements for Conversion<\/h3>\n
(1) Timing of Conversion<\/h4>\n
\nHowever, conversion is not permitted if more than three months have passed since the date on which the applicant was served with the first Office Action indicating grounds for refusal.\n<\/p>\n(2) Identity of Applicant<\/h4>\n
\nIf the applicant differs, a change of ownership must be recorded before filing the conversion request.\n<\/p>\n(3) Design Eligible for Conversion<\/h4>\n
\nThe target design must be identical to the design described in the original application documents.\n<\/p>\n2. Effect of Conversion<\/h3>\n
\n
3. Significance of Converting to a Design Application<\/h3>\n
\nWhen design protection is more appropriate than technical protection, the applicant may switch to a design application while maintaining the original filing date.\n<\/p>\n\n
4. Practical Considerations<\/h3>\n
(1) Conversion to Full Designs or Partial Designs<\/h4>\n
\nThe following example shows a single patent application converted into multiple partial-design applications:\n<\/p>\n
\n\u2192 Design Registration No. 1654053 (Application 2019-14833 (2019))
\n\u2192 Design Registration No. 1654027 (Application 2019-14834 (2019))
\n\u2192 Design Registration No. 1646319 (Application 2019-14827 (2019))\n<\/p>\n(2) Comparison with Conversion to Utility Model Applications<\/h4>\n
\nIf the purpose is to protect functional improvements, conversion to a utility model is suitable.
\nIf the goal is to protect aesthetic or design features, conversion to a design application is more appropriate.\n<\/p>\n(3) Filing Strategy When the Design Is Not Yet Finalized<\/h4>\n
\nPrior to requesting examination, the applicant may select only the necessary designs and convert them into design applications.
\nIt is also possible to convert a single patent application into multiple design applications simultaneously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"