Of the 466 design patents issued October 6, 2026 after a rejection, ten files stand out. A 2015 parent’s line weights saved a one-line DexCom claim from new matter. The first allowances under the March 2026 GUI guidance arrived. An Amazon Seller Support reply moved a reference forward nearly three
Of the 431 design patents that issued on September 29, 2026 after a rejection, the most useful files cleared prior art without the declaration the examiner asked for: a prior-disclosure statement in the specification, an attack on Amazon’s “Date First Available,” and an inventorship correction. Also this week: a boundary
Of the 285 design patents that issued on September 22, 2026 after a rejection, the best responses attacked what a web listing actually proves: a reused Home Depot SKU whose oldest review did not date the picture, and an inventor’s own listing used as a shield against third-party registrations. Also
The fourth Graham factor applies to design patents. LKQ v. GM, 102 F.4th 1280, 1296, 1299-1300 (Fed. Cir. 2024) (en banc). The court named commercial success, industry praise, and copying, and said it was not deciding whether long-felt need and failure of others apply to designs.
Every reference in a design patent obviousness rejection must now be analogous art to the claimed design. LKQ v. GM, 102 F.4th 1280, 1296-99 (Fed. Cir. 2024) (en banc).