USPTO launches new design patent examination AI tool

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is launching DesignVision, the first artificial intelligence (AI)-based image search tool available to design patent examiners via the Patents End-to-End (PE2E) search suite. DesignVision is the latest step in the agency’s broader efforts to streamline and modernize examination and reduce application pendency. 

DesignVision is an AI-powered tool that is capable of searching U.S. and foreign industrial design collections using image(s) as an input query. The tool provides centralized access and federated searching of design patents, registrations, trademarks, and industrial designs from over 80 global registers, and returns search results based on, and sortable by, image similarity. 

DesignVision will augment—not replace—design examiners’ other search tools. Examiners can continue using other PE2E search tools and non-patent literature when conducting their research. The complete text of the Official Gazette Notice can be found on the patent related notices page of the USPTO website.