Design Patent Links - Jan.21, 2014

Starting off this week's links with some good news in the patent world, a recent report shows that in 2012, worldwide patent applications saw their strongest growth in 18 years, with design patents ticking up by 17%, year over year.  This follows double-digit growth in design patent filings each year since 2010.  Of course, these numbers still lag behind the growth in utility patent filings over the same period.  Part of the recent surge is attributable to the increased participation of younger nations in the global marketplace; in 2012 for instance, Chinese residents led the world in new utility patent application filings for the first time.  Several questions remain.  How long can the market sustain double digit growth in new patent applications and what will governments, particularly the U.S. government, choose to do about it?  

Continuing on the international front, following the 24th U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in December, China has further indicated that it will extend design patent protection to Graphical User Interfaces.  Readers of the Ordinary Observer may note that in we have reported on this subject before.  In October, the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office released a draft amended version of its Examination Guidelines, indicating for the first time that it was amenable to extending patent protection to GUIs and other so-called virtual designs. This is a significant step towards harmonizing U.S.-Chinese design patent law, as the United States has offered patent protection to so-called virtual designs for roughly twenty years.

In more consumer-driven news, several major technology companies are lighting up the technology blogs with design patent revelations.  First, Samsung and the U.S. PTO have joined forces to tease gadget journalists with newly issued design patents covering a foldable tablet, as well a new design rumored to be the next Galaxy series flagship phone.  On the enforcement side, struggling smartphone maker Blackberry has filed suit against Typo Products, LLC, the maker of a Bluetooth keyboard for smartphones which tends to evoke comparisons to Blackberry's iconic keyboard style.  The reactions from users and bloggers towards Blackberry's suit appear mixed, at best.   The lesson here appears to be that you can get press from both design patent suits and design patent grants, but the press for the former is very different than from the latter.

Finally, the Federal Circuit's recent decision in Pacific Coast Marine Windshields Limited v. Malibu Boats has succeeded in generating a fair amount of scholarship in its immediate aftermath.  See the following links for analysis of the decision, as well as The Ordinary Observer's own breakdown of the case. 

Design Patent Links - Nov. 19, 2013

We start this week’s design patent links with a story from the lighter side of design patent litigation… and shapewear… Jenny B. Davis of the ABA Journal has penned an epic poem about the Spanx v. Yummie Tummie design patent fight. It’s a funny read for anyone interested in design patents, shapewear, or reality TV. For everyone else, it will just be strange and confusing…

Amaya Singh of the Indian IP firm, Lex Orbis, has authored an interesting article on the differences between U.S. design patent law and that of India. One interesting fact about Indian design patent law is that designs are still judged for aesthetic value. Ms. Singh explains that Indian design patents must be “‘Judged solely by the eye’ [which] has been interpreted to mean that every design is to be looked at for an ‘eye appeal’, i.e. the aesthetic value of the design needs to be gauged.”

China IPR is reporting that the Chinese Patent Office is considering draft regulations that would allow for design patent protection for graphical user interfaces. Currently, the Chinese Patent Office does not allow such design patents.

Here in the United States, design patents for graphical user interfaces continues to be a source of debate. This week, PatentlyO published a guest post by Michael Risch, Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law regarding “Functionality and Graphical User Interface Design Patents.” The post is a preview of Professor Risch’s article in the Stanford Technology Law Review, in which he takes the position that functional elements of GUI’s should be excluded from design patent protection.

Last week, Richmond School of law hosted their seventh Annual Evil Twin Debate in the law school's moot court room. This year’s debate featured Professor Mark Janis of Indiana University's Maurer School of Law and Professor Andrew Torrance of the University of Kansas School of Law. They debated the topic Design Patents: Great Idea, or Greatest Idea? The law school has posted video of the debate in years past, and we will add a link to the debate as soon as it becomes available.

The California Patent Litigation blog discusses Intellectual Property Owner’s Association 2013 IP Record, and its potential implications for design patent litigation. Apparently, there were 658 more design patent applications filed in 2012 than in 2011 and that number is likely to grow again in 2013.

Check back next week for more design patent links! And don’t forget to sign up for Suffolk Law School’s design patent conference this Friday! See you there.