AI in Industrial design searching – What you need to know in 2025

Industrial designs have become critical for businesses for a 360° protection of their intellectual property (IP) and creative assets. While functionality and technical novelty are key for utility patents, industrial design focuses on a product's ornamental or aesthetic aspects. 

As industries move towards more visually driven innovation, industrial designs filings are also growing. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies like computer vision, image similarity, and image recognition are emerging as necessary tools to solve the challenges that exist with evaluating novelty of new designs. 

Design Novelty Searches 

Through advanced algorithms, AI can change search functionality to be more reliable, efficient, visually appealing, and expansive. In the past, most design searches were mainly performed in a text search mode, where the designs were described via specific words or “Classification codes”. Design patents can have very limited text, and their titles can be very generic and repetitive across different designs. Users therefore must either rely on Locarno classes or national classes for certain countries and then shift through thousands of results in order to find overlapping designs. This method often resulted in inefficiencies due to language barriers, subjective terminology, and lack of precision. 

AI changes the game by enabling image-based searches and this not only disrupts the way searching is done but also streamlines it. Users can now upload an image, photograph or a sketch of a design and retrieve visually similar designs in seconds. AI subsequently ranks them by their visual similarities and matches them with existing designs. This approach aligns perfectly with industrial design's inherently visual nature, overcoming traditional methods' limitations. 

The enabling AI technologies that make this possible are: 

• Computer Vision: A technology that enables machines to understand and analyze image data. This technology helps design recognition by recognizing features such as shapes, contours, functional elements, patterns and textures. 

• Image Similarity: This technology matches and assesses the degree of similarity between two or more images. With a pixel-based focus on the graphics of the design, AI can notice and magnify the slightest of differences, which is necessary for avoiding infringement.  

• Image Recognition: Image recognition does not only stop at identifying but also targets classification and tagging of designs based on their shapes, materials, and functional parts.  

Design FTOs 

In addition to novelty assessments for new designs, companies are required to perform a Design Freedom to Operate (FTO) analysis before launching a new product in the market. This ensures that the product design does not infringe any design patents that are currently in place. This analysis requires cross-functional involvement of the legal and R&D teams.  

A design FTO search is done by the IP team, and the results are evaluated by the legal and R&D teams. Combining AI-driven Image based search along with Boolean searches can help reduce the number of results that are required to be reviewed.  

Beyond search, successful FTOs make use of workflows that include central data management, role-based access, and direct visualization tools to compare designs and channels of communication in real-time. Platforms like PatSeer enhance this process with several capabilities: 

• Integrated project workspaces: Having all project-related documents, communications, and tools are available removes the need for disparate tools like emails, physical documents, or separate image viewing software. 

• Interactive Collaboration: Colleagues can comment directly on specific designs, flag potential issues, and give feedback with the project allowing easy exchange of ideas and rapid evaluation of matching designs. 

• Direct Sharing Capabilities: Projects can be shared across teams or with external stakeholders without the need for Excel or other documents.  

• Change Management: The platform can track all changes, comments, and updates. This audit trail is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the FTO process and ensuring that all decisions are well-documented and legally defensible. 

Summing up 

As industrial design registration becomes increasingly competitive and voluminous, AI technologies like computer vision, image similarity, and image recognition have emerged as game-changers. These tools provide unparalleled precision, scalability, and efficiency by shifting from text-based to image-based searches. 

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