U.S. Design Patents Following LKQ: Dramatic Change or Mere Harmonization?

Tracy-Gene Durkin, director and chair of the Mechanical & Design Practice Group, co-authored an article in Patent Agency, an academic intellectual property journal based in China. Tracy and her co-authors discussed the development of obviousness judgment for U.S. design patents and the potential impact of the LKQ case on the design patent system. The decision in LKQ overruled the Rosen-Durling test that previously determined obviousness of a design patent.