Need another reason to secure and enforce design patents? Design patents offer a unique additional remedy in district court litigation: profit disgorgement. While design patent owners may still pursue the traditional remedies...more
On May 21, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, sitting en banc, overruled more than 40 years of precedent defining the design patent obviousness standard. The decision eliminates the Rosen-Durling test,...more
In 2023, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued three opinions regarding U.S. design patents. The three 2023 opinions are Columbia Sportswear North America, Inc. v. Seirus Innovative Accessories, Inc., LKQ...more
2/14/2024
/ Appeals ,
Design Patent ,
En Banc Review ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Remand ,
Summary Judgment
2023 was another busy year for district court decisions! There were patent- and case-dispositive design patent decisions across a range of venues and at a range of case postures, including claim construction rulings, summary...more
2023 saw a return to business as usual for the Federal Circuit. Oral arguments are once again in-person and open to the public, and the Court has resumed its former practice of holding occasional sittings outside of...more
2/9/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Amgen v Sanofi ,
Appeals ,
Claim Construction ,
Copyright ,
Design Patent ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
IP License ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Prior Art ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Not surprisingly, 2023 was another notable year for design rights around the globe. However, nowhere more than the U.S. did we see court decisions that will, in the case of one, and could in the case of another, have...more
2/8/2024
/ America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
CAFC ,
Design Patent ,
EU ,
Innovation Patent ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Investigations ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Section 337 ,
USPTO
LKQ filed an inter partes review challenging GM’s auto fender design patent. LKQ was once a licensed repair part vendor for GM. But, after renewal negotiations fell through in early 2022, GM informed LKQ that the parts LKQ...more
2/7/2024
/ Appeals ,
Design Patent ,
En Banc Review ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Utility Patents
Directors Tracy-Gene G. Durkin, Deirdre M. Wells, Daniel A. Gajewski, and Ivy Clarice Estoesta will present the webinar "2023 Design Patents Year in Review: Analysis and Trends" on Tuesday, January 30, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. EST....more
For the first time in over five years, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will be hearing a patent case en banc. The Court has agreed to hear LKQ Corporation v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC, which...more
In 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued six opinions regarding U.S. design patents: three precedential opinions and three unprecedential opinions. Unlike 2021 (where the two precedential opinions on...more
2/28/2023
/ Appeals ,
Design Patent ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Medical Devices ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Prior Art ,
Reversal
Last year, in our inaugural issue of “The Year in Review,” we reported that since the landmark jury verdict in the IP litigation between Apple and Samsung in 2012, which awarded more than $1B to Apple for infringement of...more
2/28/2023
/ Appeals ,
Claim Construction ,
Damages ,
Design Patent ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jury Trial ,
Mobile Apps ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Summary Judgment
Last year, in our inaugural issue of “The Year in Review,” we reported that since the landmark jury verdict in the IP litigation between Apple and Samsung in 2012, which awarded more than $1B to Apple for infringement of...more
2/21/2023
/ Anticipation ,
Appeals ,
Article of Manufacture ,
Australia ,
Chile ,
China ,
Claim Construction ,
Damages ,
Design Patent ,
EU ,
Exclusion Orders ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Foreign Patent Applications ,
India ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Likelihood of Success ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Noninfringement ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Registration ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Prior Art ,
Remedies ,
Reversal ,
Section 337 ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Summary Judgment ,
The Hague System ,
Trade Dress ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE) ,
USPTO
Following the successful release of the firm's inaugural year-in-review report last year, we will again be hosting a webinar featuring the highlights of our 2023 report. Webinar speakers will provide an overview and analysis...more
From consumer products to graphical user interfaces to pharmaceuticals and medical devices, design patents have become essential tools in the IP toolkit for companies of all sizes. Not only are they relatively inexpensive and...more
In 2021, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued four opinions regarding US design patents— two precedential opinions and two unprecedential opinions. Both precedential opinions, In re SurgiSil and Campbell...more
3/8/2022
/ Appeals ,
Article of Manufacture ,
Design Patent ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Nexus ,
Nonobvious ,
Ornamental Design ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Prior Art ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Section 102 ,
Section 103 ,
Substantial Evidence ,
Vacated
Since 2010—with the exception of outlier year 2016 (with 310 new filings!)—the number of cases filed annually in US district courts asserting US design patents has remained fairly steady: between 236 (in 2019) and 293 (in...more
This year, we will mark the 10-year anniversary of the first jury verdict in the landmark IP litigation between Apple and Samsung, which resulted in the jury awarding more than $1B to Apple. More than $500M of that award was...more
3/2/2022
/ Anticipation ,
Appeals ,
Article of Manufacture ,
Australia ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
China ,
Design Patent ,
EU ,
Exclusion Orders ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Foreign Patent Applications ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Korea ,
Nexus ,
Nonobvious ,
Ornamental Design ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Filings ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Registration ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Prior Art ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Section 102 ,
Section 103 ,
Section 337 ,
Substantial Evidence ,
Summary Judgment ,
The Hague System ,
USPTO ,
Utility Patents ,
Vacated
SurgiSil filed for a design patent on the ornamental design for a lip implant. The sole figure in SurgiSil’s application is shown in the top image. The patent examiner rejected the patent application under 35 U.S.C. § 102...more
Campbell Soup Co. petitioned for inter partes review (IPR) of Gamon Plus, Inc.’s design patents D612,646 and D621,645. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) instituted the IPR and determined that Campbell Soup did not...more
2/24/2022
/ Commercial Success ,
Design Patent ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Nexus ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Prior Art ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Substantial Evidence ,
Vacated
In conjunction with the forthcoming release of the firm's inaugural year-in-review report, speakers will offer case summaries and analysis of particularly significant design patent updates and trends. Specifically, the...more
2/23/2022
/ Design Patent ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
USPTO ,
Webinars
[co-author: Jamie Dohopolski]
Last year, the continued global COVID-19 pandemic forced American courts to largely continue the procedures set in place in 2020. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was no...more
2/9/2022
/ § 314(d) ,
35 U.S.C. §315(e)(1) ,
Absolute Intervening Rights Doctrine ,
Abuse of Discretion ,
Administrative Patent Judges ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Article of Manufacture ,
Assignor Estoppel ,
Burden of Proof ,
Claim Construction ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Commercial Success ,
Confidential Information ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Demand Letter ,
Denial of Institution ,
Design Patent ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Dismissals ,
Doctrine of Prosecution Disclaimer ,
Due Process ,
Equitable Estoppel ,
Estoppel ,
Evidence ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Executive Branch ,
Executive Powers ,
Federal Rules of Evidence ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Forum Selection ,
FRCP 52(c) ,
GATT ,
Inferior Officers ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Reexamination ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Intervening Acts ,
Inventions ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Judicial Review ,
Lack of Authority ,
Lack of Jurisdiction ,
Likelihood of Success ,
Minerva Surgical Inc. v Hologic Inc. ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Motivation to Combine ,
Nexus ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Nonobvious ,
Obviousness ,
Ornamental Design ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Filings ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Pre-GATT ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Principle Officers ,
Printed Publications ,
Prior Art ,
Real Party in Interest ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Rule 36 ,
Scope of Review ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 325(d) ,
Sua Sponte ,
Substantial Evidence ,
Totality of Evidence ,
United States v Arthrex Inc ,
USPTO ,
Vacated ,
Writ of Mandamus
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox invites you to a webinar, "Federal Circuit Appeals from the PTAB and ITC: Summaries of Key 2021 Decisions," on Thursday, February 17, 2022.
In conjunction with the release of the firm's...more
2/9/2022
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
Assignor Estoppel ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Design Patent ,
Equitable Estoppel ,
Forum Selection ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Minerva Surgical Inc. v Hologic Inc. ,
Nonobvious ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Printed Publications ,
United States v Arthrex Inc ,
Webinars
In Campbell Soup Co. v. Gamon Plus, Inc., the Federal Circuit considered the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s application of objective indicia to design patent claims. The Board had found that the prior art has the same...more
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for all stakeholders looking at the entire...more
9/1/2021
/ America Invents Act ,
Claim Construction ,
Design Patent ,
Evidence ,
Extrinsic Evidence ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Intrinsic Evidence ,
Inventions ,
Nexus ,
Nonobvious ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution History ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Substantial Evidence ,
USPTO ,
Utility Patents ,
Vacated ,
Written Descriptions
SSB sought inter partes reexamination of a Sealy design patent. After reexamination, the decision was appealed to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The single claim in the patent recites “[t]he ornamental designs for a...more