One should not be able to claim a patent or copyright in a known design. One way for both inventors and government officials to avoid this problem is to search through databases of design patents that have been issued by patent offices around the world.

Another source of information on known designs is the Design Library, located in New York City. The Design Library has information on over 5,000,000 textile designs. Many of these textiles designs can also be applied to the types of non-textile surfaces eligible for design patent protection.

What follows is a categorization scheme for designs from the book, "Textile Designs: 200 years of European and American patterns organized by motif, style, color, layout & period". One of the authors of the book, Susan Keller, is one of the founders of the Design Library.

In time, our www.patenting-art.com Web site will expand the scope of this categorization scheme to include textile design categories from other cultures, and to include categories for non-textile designs. Some of these latter categories will come from design patent classifications. Until then, the categories listed on these Web pages will help you familiarize yourself with the terminology of designs.

   Airbrush
   Allover
      Nondirectional
      One-directional
      Packed
      Set
      Tossed
      Two-directional
   Arborescent
   Bamboo
   Baskets, Flowerpots, and Vases
   Block Prints
   Blue Resists
   Bonnes Herbes
   Borders
   Botanical
   Bouquets and Nosegays
   Bows and Ribbons
   Box Layout
   Bread-and-Butter, Ditsies and Dumb-Dumbs
   Brocaded Look
   Brushstroke Look
   Buds
   Calico
   Cameo Layout
   Cartouches
   Challis
   Chintz
   Chintz Borders
   Cinnamon Pinks
   Cretonne
   Damask Look
   Embroidered Look
   Flower Beds
   Garlands
   Grasses and Wheat
   Half-Mourning
      Chocolates, Purples and Shaker Grays
   Handkerchiefs
   Impressionistic
   Indiennes
   Indigos
   Lattice and Trellis
   Leaves
   Liberty Look
   Linework
   Madders
   Mill Engravings
   Moire
   Monotones
   Neats
   Ombre
   Patio Prints
   Patterned Grounds
      Checks and Plaids
      Dots
      Floral
      Geometric
      Stripes
      Textures
   Picotage
   Pillement Look
   Provincial
   Provincial Borders
   Ribbon Patterns
   Roses
   Sackcloth
   Scarves
   Spaced Dark Ground
   Spaced Light Ground
   Sprays
   Sprigs
   Stripes
   Stripes, Serpentine
   Tapestry Look
   Textured
   Thorns
   Trailing Florals and Vines
   Turkey Reds
   Warp Prints
   Warp Prints, Simulated
   Watercolor Look
   Wild Flowers
   Wreaths

   Abstract
   Airbrush
   Allover
   Arabesque
   Basketweave and Latticework
   Blocks and Cubes
   Borders
   Box Layout
   Brushstroke Look
   Bull's-Eye
   Cartouches and Lozenges
   Cellular
   Challis
   Checkerboard
   Chevron and Herringbone
   Circles and Dots
   Coffee Beans, Screwtops and Split Peas
   Commas
   Confetti
   Crescents
   Diamonds and Harlequins
   Diaper
   Eccentrics
   Embroidered Look
   Fleur-de-Lis
   Foulards
   Fretwork
   Hexagons and Octagons
   Houndstooth
   Indigos
   Interlocking
   Loops and Scribbles
   Madders
   Marbleized Look
   Medallions
   Mill Engravings
   Mobiles and Wire Sculpture
   Moire
   Monochromatics and Monotones
   Mosaics
   Neats
   Ogee
   Ombre
   Optical
   Ovals and Seeds
   Patterned Ground
   Pinwheels and Spirals
   Plains
      Black and White
      Challis
      Checks, Gingham Checks, and Windowpane Checks
      Dress Shirting
      Dress Shirting Dobbies
      Flannel
      Madder
      Novelty
      Provincial
      Sport Shirting
      Tartan
      Textures and Tweeds
   Polka Dots
   Provincial
   Quatrefoils and Trefoils
   Rectangles
   Scale Pattern
   Scarves
   Scrollwork
   Spaced
   Squares
   Stars
   Stripes
   Stripes
      Dress Shirting
      Dress Shirting Dobbies
      Madder
      Provincial
      Serpentine and Wavy
      Sport Shirting
      Textured
   Textured
   Textures
   Three Dimensional
   Ticktacktoe
   Tie Patterns
   Tile Pattern
   Triangles
   Vermicular
   Warp Prints and Simulated Warp Prints
   Watercolor Look
   Zigzag

   American West
   Animals
   Animal Skins
   Architectural
   Belts, Chains, Knots and Ropes
   Birds
   Bows and Ribbons
   Bubbles and Spheres
   Buildings
   Butterflies
   Camouflage
   Cartoons
   Cats
   Celestial
      Nineteenth-Century
      Twentieth-Century
   Circus and Clowns
   Commemorative
   Coral and Seaweed
   Cornucopia
   Dogs
   Drapery
   Eyelet, Lace and Netting
   Fakes
   Fans
   Feathers
   Flags
   Fruit
   Games and Toys
   Grotesques
   Hardware and Tools
   Hearts
   Heraldic
   Holiday Motifs
   Horses
   Horseshoes
   Hunting
   Insects
   Ironwork
   Jewels
   Jungle
   Juvenile
   Letters and Numbers
   Marine Life
   Military and Weaponry
   Mill Engravings
   Musical Instruments
   Mythological
   Nautical
   Nuts and Pinecones
   Objects
   Patchwork
   People
   Photoprints
   Pillar Prints
   Playing-Card Motifs
   Reptiles
   Ruffles
   Scenic Landscape
   Scenic Pictorial
   Shells
   Silhouettes
   Sports
   Stained Glass Look
   Tapestry Look
   Toiles
      Allegorical, Historical and Monumental
      Mythological, Pastoral and Romantic
   Transportation
   Trees
   Trimming
   Trompe l'Oeil
   Trophies
   Tropical
   Vegetables
   Water and Wave Patterns
   Wickwork
   Zodiac

   African Look
   Americana
   American Indian Look
   Bandannas
   Batik and Indonesian Look
   Carpet Patterns
   Chinoiserie
   Egyptian Look
   Export Goods
      England to India
      France to Africa
      England to the Middle East
      Russia to Afghanistan and Uzbekistan
      England to Portugal, Shanghai and Surabaya
   Folkloric
   Greek Look
   Hawaiian
   Japonisme
   Mexican, Pre-Columbian and South American Looks
   Netherlandish Look
   Ottoman Look
   Paisley
      Allover
      Boteh
      Buti
      Foulards
      Shawls
      Stripes
      Turkey Reds
   Persian Look
   Pompeiian Look
   Russian Look
   Tie-Dye Look
   Tyrolean Look

   Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts
   Art Deco
      Conversational
      Floral
      Geometric
   Art Nouveau
      Conversational
      Floral
   Baroque and Rococo Looks
   Belle Epoque
   Biedermeier Look
   Empire
   Fauve Look
   Gothic Revival
   Graffiti
   Jacobean Look
   Medieval Look
   Memphis
   Modernism
   Neoclassical
   Psychedelic
   Punk
   Renaissance Look
   Russian Constructivist
   Supergraphics
   Wiener Werkstatte