The Development and Trends of Computer-Generated Icon Patents and Graphical User Interface Patents

Abstract: With the advent of the Metaverse era, digital patents may become prevalent, particularly computer-generated icon patents (CGI patents) and graphical user interface patents (GUI patents), which are well-suited for digital creations in virtual environments. These types of patents may become the mainstream of design patents in the future. It has been more than 10 years since Taiwan passed legislation to protect CGI patents and GUI patents in 2013. This study provides complete descriptive statistics of 49 CGI patents and 1,657 GUI patents approved from January 1, 2013, to July 31, 2024. In this study, the Taiwan Patent Search System (TWPAT) was used to search CGI patents and GUI patents; moreover, (1) patent filing trends, (2) patent approval trends, (3) patent applicants, (4) patentees, (5) the country to which the patent applicant belongs, (6) duration of the patent examination, and (7) patent survival rate were also analyzed. The results of this study reveal that: (1) only 49 CGI patents and 1,657 GUI patents, a difference of 33.8 times; the author of this study suggests that these two patents can be consolidated into digital design patents in future amendments; (2) the average examination time for CGI patents is about 10 months, and the average examination time for GUI patents is about 15 months, which can be regarded as the estimated time needed for patent grant; (3) only 46.9% of the CGI patents granted and 75.8% of the GUI patents granted are still in existence; (4) the five-year survival rate was 31.0% for CGI patents and 50.75% for GUI patents; (5) the patentees of CGI patents voluntarily abandoned their patents after an average holding period of 45.88 months, while the patentees of GUI patents voluntarily abandoned their patents after an average holding period of 53.22 months. To sum up, the indicators for GUI patents were higher than those for CGI patents. It is expected that the results of this study will be an important reference for policy planning related to digital patents.