Do Cherry profile keycaps have patent?

[switchman]

Does any individual or company own patent of Cherry profile keycaps? Is it expired? I know MX switch patent has expired in 2014, but I am not talking about switch here. Thanks.

[Findecanor]

You mean the actual shape of the keycaps?

I think that could perhaps have been covered by a "design patent" once. Those are different from regular "utility patents" ("patents") in that they cover the industrial design of something but not its function.

Design patents expire after a set time period. In the US they last for 15 years, and in the EU it is 25 years except that some countries have a special provision for "spare parts" in which case it is shorter.
The first keyboards with Cherry profile keycaps are certainly older than 25 years old, so any design patent that could have existed on it must have expired.

BTW. In other countries than the US, design patents are not called "patents", so as not to get them confused with actual patents.

[switchman]

You mean the actual shape of the keycaps?

I think that could perhaps have been covered by a "design patent" once. Those are different from regular "utility patents" ("patents") in that they cover the industrial design of something but not its function.

Design patents expire after a set time period. In the US they last for 15 years, and in the EU it is 25 years except that some countries have a special provision for "spare parts" in which case it is shorter.
The shape of Cherry profile is certainly older than that.

BTW. In other countries than the US, design patents are not called "patents", so as not to get them confused with actual patents.

yes, the shape of keycaps, so the design patent has expired in both US and EU?

[MIGHTY CHICKEN]

I would imagine so given their switch patent also has expired. GMK has the molds for cherry, the dyesub molds went somewhere, and there's plenty o clones in and out of china.

[AlphaStudios]

Cherry even sent me the design drawings when I asked them. What they would not send is the actual CAD files but they are easy to get.