Christopher V. Carani and Dunstan H. Barnes Author Bloomberg Law Article
The framework for assessing the obviousness of design patents is at risk. With the Federal Circuit oral arguments slated for Feb. 5, Chris and Dunstan highlight the wisdom of the current Rosen-Durling framework in this article. The two provide background, context, and examples urging the Federal Circuit to uphold the current framework, detailing its over 40 years of success.
The full Federal Circuit should reject an ill-conceived request by major players in the repair parts industry after it hears arguments on Feb. 5 in a design patent case.
LKQ and Keystone Automotive Industries (collectively LKQ) have made an extraordinary request asking the full court to scrap the existing framework for assessing design patent obviousness, a framework that has served the public, courts, and the US Patent and Trademark Office very well for over 40 years. In its place, LKQ offers little other than vague and incomplete suggestions to import into design patent law unhelpful and inapplicable principles for assessing obviousness in the utility patent context—a fundamentally different inquiry. Read more
