In LKQ Corp. v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC, 102 F.4th 1280 (Fed. Cir. 2024), the Federal Circuit fundamentally reshaped design patent obviousness law. LKQ successfully argued that the long-standing Rosen-Durling test, which required a primary reference to be “basically the same” as the claimed design, was too restrictive and prevented proper application of traditional
948 Design Patents issued on June 17, 2025. Notable Issues Five applications have a 103 Obviousness analysis with an LKQ discussion. These are: 29895014 (Wine Case – D1079464) 29838217 (Container – D 1079475) 29813174 (Display Screen or Portion Thereof with Graphical User Interface – D1079732) 29770373 (Display Board – D1079803)
973 Design Patents issued on June 10, 2025. Notable Issues Three applications have a 103 Obviousness analysis with an LKQ discussion. These are: 29856109 (Femoral Implant Component – D1079003) 29851964 (Dispenser – D1078973) 29732483 (Display Screen or Portion Thereof with Graphical User Interface – D1078749) (Links to selected prosecution documents
Application No. 29/852,171 | Issued June 3, 2025 as D1,078,041 In this week’s featured prosecution, we examine the successful traversal of an obviousness rejection in the design patent application for a grooved mandrel for producing an embolic coil. The case illustrates how design applicants can strategically make title changes and use LKQ
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,