U.S. Patent No. D861,725 S (‘725) issued on October 1, 2019, for “Display Screen with Animated Icon.” It was issued to inventors Hélène Park and Alan Bettes of San Francisco, California, and Sidney Paolo San Martín of Brooklyn, New York. The applicant/assignee is Google LLC of Mountain View, California. This patent is a design patent under 35 U.S.C. §171, which protects the ornamental features of an article of manufacture. The features cover the icon display on a smartphone, with the ornamental features of the sequential transition of the icons protected by the ‘725 patent. The method of animation is not a protected feature.
Figures 3 and 7-9 below illustrates the ornamental features of the icon transitions.
Under 35 U.S.C. §173, the ‘725 patent, like all design patents, has a patent term of 15 years, and expires on October 1, 2034 (MPEP 1505).
The Cooperative Patent Classification is G06T (image data processing or generation, in general, namely, animation in 2D (13/80), 3D image rendering with non-photorealistic rendering (15/02)).
While not the most novel of inventions, this patent, however, is another in Google’s portfolio, which combined with Alphabet, Inc., has one of the largest IP portfolios in the world. Since Google is in the smartphone business, it may not be surprising to see the ‘725’s features in an existing or soon-to-be existent phone on the market. Please contact Yonaxis for more information on design patents, or patents in general, if you have any questions.