Author: Joe Conneely, Conneely PC
A Canadian industrial design application may include a bold wavy line or lines in the drawings to indicate the boundary of the design. For example, consider an article such as an end table that is formed in the shape of a smooth-surfaced cube, void of any surface design lines. Now say the design to be protected is just the top half of the table. Accordingly, the top edges of the table and the top half of the side edges of the table would be shown in solid lines in the drawings to indicate that these portions of the table are included in the design. In addition, the bottom edges of the table and the bottom half of the side edges of the table would be shown in broken (or stippled) lines to indicate that these portions of the table are not included in the design. But what do you do about the side surfaces of the table that have no design lines? What do you do about the edge lines that are now part solid line and part broken line with no definite indication of transition? How is the boundary of the design to be indicated in a case such as this? This is where the use of a bold wavy line is helpful. In this example, the drawings may include a bold wavy line drawn to traverse the side surfaces of the table and intersect the side edge lines at the point where they transition between solid and broken lines. A statement in the description portion of the application indicating that the bold wavy line is for the purpose of indicating the boundary of the design and that the bold wavy line does not form part of the design would also be added.
As another example, consider the same cube-shaped end table. This time, say the design to be protected is just a portion of the top surface of the table excluding the top edges. Accordingly, the top edges, bottom edges, and side edges would be shown in broken lines in the drawings to indicate that these portions of the table are not included in the design. The portion of the top surface to be protected would be enclosed with a bold wavy line. Again, a statement in the description portion of the application indicating that the bold wavy line is for the purpose of indicating the boundary of the design and that the bold wavy line does not form part of the design would also be added.
As a final example, consider the same cube-shaped end table. This time, say the design to be protected is the entire table excluding a portion of the top surface of the table spaced from the top edges. Accordingly, the top edges, bottom edges, and side edges would be shown in solid lines in the drawings to indicate that these portions of the table are included in the design. The portion of the top surface to be excluded from the design would be enclosed with a bold wavy line. Again, a statement in the description portion of the application indicating that the bold wavy line is for the purpose of indicating the boundary of the design and that the bold wavy line does not form part of the design would also be added
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