Design Patent Application
Design patents differ from utility patents in the fact that the term on design patents is 14 years from the date of its grant. In addition, maintenance fees are not required with design patents. However, if you are granted a design patent, you will need to be prepared to pay an issue fee.
With regards to the design patent application, only one claim is permitted (an unlimited number of claims can be presented in a utility patent). The specification of a design patent follows a set template and is concise. Provisional applications are not accepted for designs whereas they may be filed for inventions with a utility.
