Fed Circuit Grants Rare En Banc Review in Car Design Patent Case

The Federal Circuit granted an exceedingly rare request for all of its active judges to hear an appeal from LKQ Corp. that asks the court to scrap its test for whether a design patent is obvious.

LKQ and Keystone Automotive Industries Inc. sought to invalidate a design patent belonging to GM Global Technology Operations that depicts the body of a car. The companies argued to the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board that the patent was obvious in light of a promotional brochure for a Hyundai Tucson and a previously issued design patent.

The PTAB, however, ...