Last spring, the Federal Circuit’s LKQ v. GM adopted a new test for design patent obviousness. Speaking with Law360 on the one year anniversary of the decision, partner Ben Katzenellenbogen shared his thoughts on the ruling’s impact.
While some practitioners were concerned about the immediate consequences of the ruling could have when it came down last year, Mr. Katzenellenbogen noted that the decision seems to have “largely been taken in stride.” He added that while he anticipated there would be the most demonstrable impact on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s decisions, “it’s hard to see that it’s having a major substantive effect even at the patent office.”
Speaking to forthcoming decisions that might rely on the LKQ ruling for precedent, Mr. Katzenellenbogen maintained that the overall effect of the ruling is likely “going to be more of an evolution, as the decisions come out, than a sea change.”
Read the article, including Mr. Katzenellenbogen’s comments, here [subscription required].
At the time of the Federal Circuit’s 2024 ruling in LKQ v. GM, partners Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm authored a Law360 article on the decision, which can be found here.
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