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 of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC)’s decision in LKQ Corporation v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC, which we discussed here. Looking back at last year’s design patent issuance statistics, we now take the time to determine whether, if at all, the issuance numbers of U.S. design patents were impacted by these changes.
Continue Reading Recap of 2024 U.S. Design Patent Drama: Here’s What We Know Now