News & Analysis as of

United States Patent and Trademark Office › Design Patent

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves a fundamental role in the U.S. intellectual property system by issuing patents and registering trademarks.... more +
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves a fundamental role in the U.S. intellectual property system by issuing patents and registering trademarks.    less -
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

AI Enters the Design Patent Arena as the USPTO Launches DesignVision

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on

In a significant step toward modernizing design patent examination, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has introduced DesignVision, a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered image search tool now available...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Federal Circuit Confirms: Prosecution History Disclaimer Applies to Design Patents Too

Fenwick & West LLP on

Many industries rely on design patents to protect the look and feel of their products—especially when aesthetics drive customer interest, brand identity, or market differentiation. In Top Brand LLC v. Cozy Comfort Company...more

Dickinson Wright

2025 Patent Filing Costs Rise: USPTO Fee Update and Response Strategies

Dickinson Wright on

In January 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implemented a broad set of fee increases and structural adjustments intended to address rising operational costs and encourage more efficient patent...more

ArentFox Schiff

USPTO to Launch AI-Powered Image-Based Search Tool for Design Patents Amidst New Legal Standards

ArentFox Schiff on

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the upcoming launch of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered image-based prior-art search tool for design patents, scheduled to go live on October 1, 2025 (fiscal...more

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Latest Federal Court Cases: Top Brand LLC v. Cozy Comfort Company LLC

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC on

Top Brand LLC v. Cozy Comfort Company LLC, Appeal No. 2024-2191 (Fed. Cir. July 17, 2025) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that prosecution history disclaimer applies to...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

AI Search Tool Coming to Design Patent Examination

Quarles & Brady LLP on

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the rollout of DesignVision, an advanced AI‑powered image search tool now integrated into the examination system for U.S. design patent applications. According to the...more

McCarter & English, LLP

USPTO Discontinues Accelerated Examination for Utility Patent Applications, but Track 1 Remains a Good Option

McCarter & English, LLP on

The USPTO recently announced that the Accelerated Examination program will be discontinued as of July 10, 2025. Given that the program has had limited use over the past decade, with fewer than 100 Accelerated Examination...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

USPTO to Discontinue Accelerated Examination Program for Utility Patents on July 10, 2025

Womble Bond Dickinson on

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced that, as of July 10, 2025, it will discontinue accepting petitions under the Accelerated Examination (AE) program for utility patent applications. However, petitions...more

MoFo Life Sciences

USPTO Discontinues Accelerated Examination Program in Favor of Expanding Track One Program

MoFo Life Sciences on

On June 10, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that, after nearly 20 years, it will be discontinuing its Accelerated Examination Program for utility applications on July 10, 2025. The...more

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP

Priority Denied, Patent Derailed: When One Filing Cancels Out the Other

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP on

On April 22, 2025, the Federal Circuit issued a decision In re: Bonnie Iris McDonald Floyd that underscores a critical and often overlooked risk in design patent prosecution: relying on a utility patent application for...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

USPTO Expediting Design Patent Issuances and De-Expediting Design Examination

Quarles & Brady LLP on

Starting May 13, 2025, the USPTO has begun accelerating the issuance of patents after the issue fee has been paid. Specifically, the duration between the Issue Notification and the Issue Date will be reduced to approximately...more

Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC

One Year of LKQ v. GM: How Much Has Really Changed?

Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC on

One year ago today, the en banc Federal Circuit decided LKQ Corporation v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC, where it overturned the decades-old Rosen-Durling test for obviousness of a design patent for being “improperly...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

USPTO Announces Changes to Patent Issue Timelines and Design Application Examinations

Womble Bond Dickinson on

This week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) made two announcements of interest to patent holders and practitioners as part of modernization and efficiency efforts...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

Recap of 2024 U.S. Design Patent Drama: Here’s What We Know Now

Quarles & Brady LLP on

In 2024, design patent law encountered a couple of major changes: the implementation of a new design patent bar, and the upending of decades of obviousness law under 35 U.S.C. § 103 in view of the en banc United States Court...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Trade Dress Registration – Practical Considerations for Product Manufacturers

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC on

Summary Trade dress is a powerful intellectual property (IP) tool that can be used to protect the distinctive non-functional “look and feel" of a product’s design, shape and/or 3D configuration.[1] Product manufacturers and...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

Best Practices for Protecting Transparent and Translucent Designs

Quarles & Brady LLP on

Design patents in the U.S. typically include two types of shading. The first and most common type of shading used in U.S. design patents is opaque shading, which illustrates a non-transparent or non-translucent surface of an...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

Sometimes Less is More: Patentability of “Simple” Designs

Quarles & Brady LLP on

When there are fewer design elements in a design claim or when the individual elements of the design seem commonplace in isolation, it can be easy to overlook the inventive effort that went into developing a design. Rather...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

2024 Federal Circuit IP Appeals: Summaries of Key 2024 Decisions

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on

2024 brought exciting developments at the Federal Circuit. The court issued its first en banc decision in a patent case in five years in LKQ, which significantly altered the standard for proving obviousness of a design...more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

USPTO Filing Fee Changes

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC on

New fees affecting trademarks and patents have taken effect at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The new fee structures will dramatically influence trademark and patent filings. Applicants need to rethink...more

Irwin IP LLP

2024 Patent Landscape -- Year In Review

Irwin IP LLP on

Over the course of 2024, the patent law landscape has continued to evolve as significant court rulings and emerging technologies shaped its direction. During 2024, activities at the Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit, various...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

2024 Design Patents Year in Review: Analysis & Trends - Global Shifts in Design Law and Policy

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on

2024 was a year of both big leaps and incremental advances in design law and practice globally. Years-long efforts came to fruition in the European Union and internationally with the Design Law Treaty, adopting significant...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

While There is an Active Utility Application, There is Design Hope

Quarles & Brady LLP on

Like many patent owners or aspiring patent owners, at some point you may have found yourself in a situation where design protection was needed, but all you had was narrow utility protection. ...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

2024 Design Patents Year in Review: Analysis & Trends - Design Patents at the PTAB: 2024 in Review

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on

Inter partes activity involving design patents at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was relatively low in 2024. The PTAB rendered just two inter partes decisions involving design patents: Next Step Group, Inc. v....more

Volpe Koenig

Designs on Trial: Comparing U.S. and EU Design Protections Post-LKQ

Volpe Koenig on

The landscape of design protection has seen significant developments on both sides of the Atlantic, with the U.S. undergoing a pivotal shift in design patent law following the Federal Circuit’s decision in LKQ Corporation v....more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

2024 Design Patents Year in Review: Analysis & Trends: Federal Circuit Appeals: A Very Big Decision in an Otherwise Quiet Year

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on

The majority of 2024 was a quiet year for design patent cases at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The court issued five opinions involving U.S. design patents: one Rule 36(a) affirmance, two decisions involving...more

199 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 8
Next »

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
Sign up Log in
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide