Design Patent Protection for Replacement Parts: Drafting Claims, Differences Between U.S. and European Treatment

Description

Most products from personal care items to appliances to printers to automobiles require replacement parts at some point. These replacement parts provide companies with an ongoing source of revenue. While utility patents provide protection for the function and structure of replacement parts, companies can and should look to design patents for protecting the appearance of their replacement parts, thereby excluding others from creating and selling a replacement part that looks substantially the same as the company's patented part.

The U.S. and Europe have wholly different treatment of design protection for replacement parts. There are certain circumstances under which design protection is prohibited for replacement parts in Europe. This is in contrast to the U.S. where there are currently very few such restrictions, although some entities have been making efforts for years to tighten those restrictions, as reflected in legislation recently introduced into Congress and ongoing litigation including an important en banc case currently before the Federal Circuit.

Other issues may arise in the U.S. around claiming replacement parts--partial designs, the title of the patent, and defining the article of manufacture for total profit damages.

Listen as our authoritative panel of patent attorneys examines the key policy and practical considerations when defining and drafting design patent claims for replacement parts. The panel will discuss the court treatment of these patents as well as the differences between U.S. and European treatment of design patents and registrations for replacement parts. The panel will offer best practices for drafting design patent claims for replacement parts and discuss recent legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.