How do I know which patent application(s) to file: utility, design or both?
The two are not necessarily exclusive; one invention could be the subject of both kinds of patents. A utility patent protects a new, useful, nonobviousness and adequately discussed machine, manufacture, composition of matter, process or improvement thereof. On the other hand, a design patent protects only the appearance of an article of manufacture, not the way that article functions or the materials of its manufacture. A better mousetrap could function (work) exactly like the mousetrap of old, but have a different appearance; it would then be appropriate for a design application. If, on the other hand, it had a new function in the way it trapped mice, it could also be appropriate for a utility application.
