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.

Design Patent Links - October 21, 2013

This week brings us news of the second major design patent conference this year! On November 21, Suffolk Law School will be hosting a design patent conference entitled “Design Patents: Modernizing an Old Property Interest.” This is the second major design patent conference of 2013, which speaks to the increasing importance of design patents in a robust intellectual property portfolio. Hopefully Suffolk will settle on a useful hashtag for the event, much like Stanford did with their own design conference back in April with great success.

Last week, the Faculty Lounge blog posted an interesting discussion of the ornamentality requirement (or lack thereof) in design patent law.

The design patent shapewear war between Spanx and Yummie Tummie is transferring to New York after some fancy footwork by counsel for Yummie Tummie.

JDSupra published an interesting design patent article penned by Brent Dougal of Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, LLP, titled “Design Patents: A Low Cost Option for Expedited Patent Protection.” We have often remarked that dollar for dollar, design patents probably afford more protection than any other form of IP. They are relatively cheap to obtain, and if asserted by a knowledgeable design patent litigator, should be very inexpensive to assert.

The Law of Fashion Blog has posted a interesting roundup of fashion-related design patents that author Charles Coleman will be discussing in his forthcoming article in the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology Digest.

Design Patent Links

The biggest design patent news from the last week was clearly Stanford Law School’s Design Patents in the Modern World conference, which was held last Friday and Saturday.  If you thought the popularity of design patents was being exaggerated lately, please see the below photograph from the event, courtesy of Mark Lemley, via Twitter:

Design Patent Links

The last few weeks have seen a flurry of design patent activity, ranging from academia, Computer-Generated Icons, and even the fashion industry.  It’s far too much to post about separately, so, without further ado, we give you this week’s Design Patent Links!

“The Fashion Law” blog is reporting on Stella McCartney’s design patent for a bestselling Lucia mesh polka dot dress from her Fall 2012 collection.  The London based company’s design patent arrived just in time for fashion week.  According to New York Law School’s “Legal As She is Spoke” blog suggested that McCartney’s design patent was just for publicity, “but could prove not to be all that helpful.”

Real Housewifes of New York star and owner/inventor of Yummie Tummie Heather, Thomson, might beg to differ with Legal As She Spoke. Yummie Tummie was sued by shapewear heavy hitter Spanx on March 5, seeking a declaratory judgment of noninfringement of several of Ms. Thomson’s design patents after Yummie sent Spanx cease and desist letters concerning Spanx’s design patents.  The National Law Review provided a nice summary of this shapewear design patent case. Many other outfits are also covering the story, including IPWatchdog, Womens Wear Daily, New York Magazine, and the Huffington Post.  But what several commentators failed to mention is that this is not Yummie Tummie’s first design patent rodeo.  As we have mentioned before on this blog, Yummie Tummie settled a declaratory judgment action brought by Maidenform after Maidenform paid Yummie Tummie 6.75 Million.  In 2011, Yummie Tummie also filed a design patent infringement action against LF USA, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based apparel manufacturer Li & Fung, Ltd.  Yummie Tummie has aggressively defended its design patents in the past, and we suspect this case will be no different.  Spanx may be surprised by how not “Yummie” this case might become for them.

As design patents continue to gain credibility with practitioners, academia is also beginning to take note. On April 5-6, 2013, Stanford Law School will host “a major conference on design patents,” titled “Design Patents in the Modern World.” The conference is sponsored by the Stanford Program in Law, Science, & Technology, Samsung Electronics, Nike, and Google and will include public conference on April 5 and a one-day academic symposium with papers on design patents from the leading scholars in the world on design patent issues. Included among the articles slated for discussion is an article co-authored by yours truly and University of Kansas School of Law professor Andrew Torrance. The article is titled “(R)evolution in Design Patent Subject Matter: The Shifting Meaning of ‘Article of Manufacture,” and provides an historical review of the “article of manufacture” requirement in design patent law. Stanford’s design patent conference will be open to the public.