Design patent practitioners might find interesting and useful some weekly design patent data. If anyone is interested in additional statistics, information, issues, or recommended practices in future posts, please let me know in the comments or message me directly. Design Patent Pendency Rates 800 design patents issued on June 3,
Now that the expedited examination procedure for design patents has been suspended, what can practitioners do to speed up prosecution? We know from pendency statistics that applications receiving rejections, objections, restrictions, and notices to file missing parts have significantly longer times from filing to issue. The practical solution is to
Are hybrid 2D/3D design disclosures sufficiently definite under 35 U.S.C. § 112? The answer is of growing importance because it directly impacts indefinite depth rejections, which remain the most common form of § 112 rejection in design patent applications. Decisions from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) appear to
Design patent prosecution can be a complex and nuanced process, particularly when determining whether a design for an automotive part is obvious in light of prior art. A recent prosecution history involving a fender flare design provides valuable insight into how the Patent Office applies 35 U.S.C. § 103 and evaluates
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in LKQ Corp. v. GM Global Tech. Operations LLC, 102 F.4th 1280 (Fed. Cir. 2024) has significantly altered the framework for assessing obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103 in design patent law. While the case specifically addressed § 103, its reasoning has broader implications, particularly