Search results for Design Law

Broken Lines are Dashed: USPTO Finally Modernizes Design Patent Guidance for GUIs, VR and AR

For years, design patent practitioners dealing with graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and icons have been shackled to the ghost of Ex parte Strijland. If you wanted to get a case th...

EU Design Act: Designing the Future - Why the EU Design Act matters for food and beverages

The EU Design Act (effective 1 May 2025 with further reforms effective 1 July 2026) has been introduced to strengthen, simplify, and harmonize existing design protection, which wil...

Design Patents Expand for Digital Products While Courts Signal New Limits on Enforcement

Key Takeaways - The USPTO has expanded design patent protection for digital and emerging technologies. Its March 2026 guidance confirms that graphical user interfaces (GUIs), icons...

Trademark Law: A Practical Guide to the Basics

A company’s brand is one of its most valuable assets – and the name, logo, or slogan associated with that business is often what customers most remember, and what drives them to ch...

Design Patents Expand for Digital Products While Courts Signal New Limits on Enforcement

Key Takeaways: The USPTO has expanded design patent protection for digital and emerging technologies. Its March 2026 guidance confirms that graphical user interfaces (GUIs), icons...

Leave the Article, Take the Design: USPTO Updates Guidance for Digital Designs to Drop the Depiction Requirement for Com...

On March 13, 2026, and effective immediately, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice of “Supplemental Guidance for Examination of Design Patent Ap...

Beyond the Label – Trademark and Design Protection as a Competitive Edge in Beauty

Brand identity is one of the most powerful assets a beauty company has, and one of the hardest to protect. In an industry where product aesthetics carry as much weight as formulas,...

USPTO’s Supplemental Guidance on Design Patents: Key Changes to Requirements for Computer-Implemented and Emerging Digit...

On March 13, 2026, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued supplemental examination guidance (“supplemental guidance”) addressing long-standing uncertainty sur...

How to Structure a Fair Law Firm Origination Credit Policy

A Fed. Circ. Blueprint For Drafting Medical Device Patents

The Federal Circuit's decision in Constellation Designs v. LG last month, among other recent rulings, underscores the importance of emphasizing engineering, rather than clinical go...

Prior Art Rejection Rates in Design Patent Prosecution

New disposal-based data on Hague design applications shows §103 rejection rates remain near 1% despite LKQ, with a post-decision dip before modest recovery. Continue reading this p...

Statutory guidance: Designs Practice Notice (DPN) 01/26: Practice in respect of graphic symbols/icons, graphical/web use...

This provides information on the examination of applications which consist of graphic symbols/icons, graphical web user interfaces and animated designs.

EU Design Act: Designing the Future - Why the EU Design Act matters for sports, media and entertainment

The EU Design Act (effective 1 May 2025 with further reforms effective 1 July 2026) has been introduced to strengthen, simplify, and harmonize existing design protection, which wil...

EU Design Act: Designing the Future - Why the EU Design Act matters for sports, media and entertainment

The EU Design Act (effective 1 May 2025 with further reforms effective 1 July 2026) has been introduced to strengthen, simplify, and harmonize existing design protection, which wil...

Hooked on Differences: Design Patent Doctrine and Schedule A Litigation at the Federal Circuit

Pending Fed. Cir. appeal Easlick v. AccEncyc pairs the plainly dissimilar design patent fight with a rare appellate test of Schedule A litigation. Continue reading this post on Pat...

Categorical Rules Cut Both Ways: Originalist Equity, NPE Status, and the Symmetry of eBay’s Four-Factor Test

Judge Gilstrap denies Collision's injunction against Samsung yet adopts the USPTO's NPE framework, rejecting categorical rules in both directions. Continue reading this post on Pat...

Constellation Designs, LLC v. LG Electronics Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2026)

Eligibility wins at the Federal Circuit are scarce enough that any decision finding a claim to survive § 101 is worth a read.  Constellation Designs, LLC v. LG Electronics Inc. is...

Proportionally Responding to a Discovery Request for Incident Reports: the Case of the Exploding Blender

Proportionally Responding to a Discovery Request for Incident Reports: the Case of the Exploding Blenderby Joshua Gilliland

Guitar Shape Controversy Highlights Nuances Of IP Protection

A recent German case related to Fender's efforts to secure intellectual property protection for its Stratocaster guitar design highlights a structural tension inherent in IP law —...

After LKQ: The Boilerplate Changed; The Rejection Rate Did Not

Two years after LKQ Corp. v. GM, a 297-case study finds examiners stripped Rosen-Durling boilerplate but did not adopt new doctrine. Rate flat. Continue reading this post on Patent...

From Blueprints to Bistro: Rethinking Culinary Creativity After Cryogas

What happens when creativity is both functional and aesthetic at the same time? The Supreme Court’s decision in Cryogas Equipment Pvt. Ltd. v. Inox India Ltd., though rooted in ind...

Short Stack, Tall Problem: Branding Guides and Functionality at the TTAB

In its first precedential decision of 2026, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board served up a cautionary tale in In re Misty Everson and Christine Maynard, Serial No. 97104306 (TTAB...

California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act

The Ninth Circuit recently issued a decision partially lifting a broad preliminary injunction staying enforcement of the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (“CAADCA”). As a...

Key Takeaways: USPTO’s New GUI Design Patent Guidance

The USPTO’s newly updated guidance on graphical user interface (GUI) design patents marks a timely shift toward modern digital realities, offering companies far greater flexibility...