Posted by: Brad
« on: January 29, 2019, 09:15:05 AM »This is actually an interesting (and challenging) question.
Without doing a lot of research on this my initial response would be "no". A logo cannot be patented and instead you should look into a trademark or service mark: https://www.logomaker.com/blog/2014/05/13/comes-logo-design-patent-copyright-trademark/
Furthermore, the general idea of using QR codes is no longer patentable using a "utility" patent, even if your code is unique and looks different from other codes.
However, there are cases where you can patent "computer generated icons" using a design patent but generally these have to be displayed on a computer or phone screen: https://www.bitlaw.com/source/mpep/1504_01_a.html
So to give you my quick (free) non-legal opinion - if you are talking about printing a tee shirt or or some "article" and as part of your new design you want to include a unique QR code I would say "maybe" this could be protected by a new design type patent (not a utility patent). If however you are just thinking of ways to protect your brand/logo I would say a patent is not used for that purpose and instead look at trademarks.
*Sorry I don't have a clear answer for you but without doing some real research here (which costs time and money) this is just a best guess.
Without doing a lot of research on this my initial response would be "no". A logo cannot be patented and instead you should look into a trademark or service mark: https://www.logomaker.com/blog/2014/05/13/comes-logo-design-patent-copyright-trademark/
Furthermore, the general idea of using QR codes is no longer patentable using a "utility" patent, even if your code is unique and looks different from other codes.
However, there are cases where you can patent "computer generated icons" using a design patent but generally these have to be displayed on a computer or phone screen: https://www.bitlaw.com/source/mpep/1504_01_a.html
So to give you my quick (free) non-legal opinion - if you are talking about printing a tee shirt or or some "article" and as part of your new design you want to include a unique QR code I would say "maybe" this could be protected by a new design type patent (not a utility patent). If however you are just thinking of ways to protect your brand/logo I would say a patent is not used for that purpose and instead look at trademarks.
*Sorry I don't have a clear answer for you but without doing some real research here (which costs time and money) this is just a best guess.