Federal Circuit Changes Obviousness Test For Design Patents
Briefly

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned its prior test for nonobviousness of design patents, aligning it with utility patents.
The prior Rosen-Durling test required identification of a primary reference with basically the same characteristics as the claimed design and a secondary reference for modification. If there is no primary reference, the design is deemed nonobvious.
In the LKQ case, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled against the petitioner, emphasizing the primary reference's lack of 'basically the same' characteristics as the claimed design.
LKQ's appeal argued that the Rosen-Durling test was implicitly overruled by a Supreme Court decision, but the Federal Circuit panel disagreed, resulting in the redesign of the nonobviousness test.
Read at The IP Law Blog
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