GM Car Part Design-Patent Infringement Suit Moves Toward Trial

A federal judge in Chicago steered toward a trial General Motors Co.‘s claims that a leading aftermarket parts maker infringed its patented designs for a front vehicle fender.

Judge Jorge Alonso on Monday rejected LKQ’s bid to invalidate two GM design patents as covering only a “fragment” of a much larger car design. Alonso said the argument fails as the relevant provision of the Patent Act “contains no requirement that a design cannot relate to a component part of a product.”

Alonso also sided with GM over LKQ’s argument that the patented designs are invalid as they were in ...