---
type: "LegalText"
title: "17 U.S.C. § 1302"
description: "Designs not subject to protection"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 17
title_name: "COPYRIGHTS"
chapter_number: "13"
chapter_name: "PROTECTION OF ORIGINAL DESIGNS"
section: "1302"
citation: "17 U.S.C. § 1302"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc17@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t17/s1302"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-17/usc17.xml"
source_hash: "af55bbde8620bac80746fdfd27fad3ad3582424d557e3efcbdef8558204552f3"
raw_snapshot_hash: "53c244d73050c7c92329dce6d1ccd78b9e2fece359d919b044b600b95258446c"
text_hash: "9dac750b15848fc16403299fd0eaa374617225ff95bf80c472952e1677347254"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 17 U.S.C. § 1302 - Designs not subject to protection

## Text

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.)

## Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments1999—Par. (5). Pub. L. 106–44 substituted “2 years” for “1 year”.