Design Patent PTO Litigation Statistics (Through October 15, 2017)

By: Mark W. Rygiel and Patrick T. Murray

Since July 2017, there have been no new design institution decisions, and a pair of final written decisions that resulted in cancelled claims. No new design patent petitions have been filed since April 2017. The statistics below reveal the current trends on proceeding breakdowns, institution rates, and outcomes of design patent PTO litigation:

I. ​Proceeding Breakdown

II. Institution Rates/Case Statuses

The institution rate for design patents, for both claims and proceedings, is 40% (16/40).

For cases overall, the proceeding institution rate is 69%, and the claim institution rate is 61%.

Here is a breakdown of the current case statuses for all of the design cases:

III. Final Written Decision (FWD) Outcomes
A. Claim Cancellation Rate

The instituted claim has been cancelled in 8 of 10 design FWDs (80%). The overall claim cancellation rate is 78%.

B. FWD Ground Type

C. FWD Prior Art Type

IV. Technology Areas