Notice: The uscode.house.gov website is currently operating in a temporary format. While the United States Code remains available from its authoritative source, some website features and functionality are temporarily unavailable.
The United States Code Online is current through Public Law 119-120 (October 7, 2026).
Search & Browse Currency and Updating Classification Tables Popular Name Tool Positive Law Codification Editorial Reclassification Downloads
17 U.S.C. 1302: Designs not subject to protectionText contains those laws in effect through Public Law 119-120 (October 7, 2026).
From Title 17-COPYRIGHTSCHAPTER 13-PROTECTION OF ORIGINAL DESIGNS

§1302. Designs not subject to protection

Protection under this chapter shall not be available for a design that is⁠—

(1)  not original;

(2)  staple or commonplace, such as a standard geometric figure, a familiar symbol, an emblem, or a motif, or another shape, pattern, or configuration which has become standard, common, prevalent, or ordinary;

(3)  different from a design excluded by paragraph (2) only in insignificant details or in elements which are variants commonly used in the relevant trades;

(4)  dictated solely by a utilitarian function of the article that embodies it; or

(5)  embodied in a useful article that was made public by the designer or owner in the United States or a foreign country more than 2 years before the date of the application for registration under this chapter.

(Added Pub. L. 105–304, title V, § 502 , Oct. 28, 1998 , 112 Stat. 2906 ; amended Pub. L. 106–44, § 1(f)(1) , Aug. 5, 1999 , 113 Stat. 222 .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1999⁠—Par. (5). Pub. L. 106–44 substituted “2 years” for “1 year”.