Tracy-Gene G. Durkin of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC discusses the increase in design patent cases being heard by the Federal Circuit in the past two years and the related trends in design patent reexamination on IPWatchdog.com. Her review of filing trends in design patent reexamination over the past ten years reveals the landscape for both patent owners and third-party requesters. Take a look at the full article on IPWatchdog here.

Reasons to expect an increase in design patent reexamination filings include the effectiveness of the proceeding as a defense strategy for accused infringers, the abundance of qualifying printed publications available in the form of product catalogues and images, the high rate of claim cancellation compared to utility patent reexaminations, a potential increase in the standard for patentability of designs, and the low rate of rejection during design patent prosecution.

As presented at the AIPLA Spring Meeting these trends, coupled with recent Federal Circuit decisions involving design patents, suggest a continued increase in design patent reexamination requests by both patent owners and third-party requesters.  The recent Federal Circuit cases include:  Crocs, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, International Seaway Trading Corp. v. Walgreens Corp. and Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc.