IP Watchdog

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued its one millionth design patent on September 26, 2023. D1,000,000 claims the ornamental design for a dispensing comb. This milestone comes during a particularly prolific period for design patents.

Design Patent 57

Design Patent Designs Design Patent 57

LexBlog IP

MARCH 17, 2022

A freedom to operate opinion (FTO) is a legal opinion from a qualified intellectual property attorney that concludes a proposed commercial product or process may be made, used, sold, or offered for sale without infringing another party’s intellectual property rights. Intellectual Property , Patents.

Intellectual Property 52

Intellectual Property Litigation Patent Prosecution Marketing 52

More Than Your Mark

AUGUST 13, 2021

Patents can protect how things look as well as how they work. If you want to protect how something works, you need a Utility Patent. If you want to protect how something looks, you need a Design Patent. Design and Utility Patents. Utility patent examination in the U.S. Form versus Function.

Designs 52

Designs Design Design Patent Patent 52

IP Watchdog

OCTOBER 11, 2021

From this finding, the Surgisil court appears to extrapolate a symmetry by which a design for an artist’s stump is both ineligible for citation against Applicant’s lip implant in patent prosecution and also not covered in a putative enforcement of Applicant’s design.

Patent Application 70

Patent Application Patent Prosecution Art Patent 70

Patently-O

MARCH 13, 2022

Landers: The Problem of Design Patents: Representation and Subject Matter Scope (Source: SSRN). Sherkow: Preprint Servers and Patent Prior Art (Source: SSRN). New Job Postings on Patently-O: McKee Voorhees and Sease. Husch Blackwell – Intellectual Property Staff Attorney. Source: USPTO. NYU Langone.

Patent Prosecution 67

Patent Prosecution Intellectual Property Patent Journalism 67

43(B)log

FEBRUARY 3, 2023

and design patents were hard to get/not as valuable at the time. There’s not evidence of a litigation history of the few midcentury modern design patents, even though Herman Miller etc. Herman Miller litigated even against “Eames style.” In the 1960s, preemption was big (Sears v. Compco, etc.)

Designs 59

Designs Design Design Patent Branding 59

Fish & Richardson Trademark & Copyright Thoughts

JANUARY 5, 2022

With these technical advances comes an increase in legal activity, including intellectual property (“IP”) filings and litigation. Research and development in the battery industry have led to a notable increase in patent filings at the U.S. Intellectual Property Considerations.

Intellectual Property 52

Intellectual Property Technology Journalism IP 52