Kentucky Law Journal Volume 99 | Issue 3 Article 2 2011 Overcoming the "Impossible Issue" of Nonobviousness in Design Patents Janice M. Mueller University of Pittsburgh Daniel Harris Brean The Webb Law Firm Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/klj Part of the Intellectual Property Law Commons Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Mueller, Janice M. and Brean, Daniel Harris (2011) "Overcoming the "Impossible Issue" of Nonobviousness in Design Patents," Kentucky Law Journal: Vol. 99 : Iss. 3 , Article 2. Available at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/klj/vol99/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Kentucky Law Journal by an authorized editor of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Kentucky Law Journal VOLUME 99 2010-2011 NUMBER 3 ARTICLE Overcoming the "Impossible Issue" of Nonobviousness in Design Patents Janice M. Mueller andDaniel Harris Brean ABSTRACT The United States offers legal protectionfor designs-the overall aesthetic appearances of objects-through the patent system. To obtain a U.S. design patent has long required something more than novelty. Just as the patentability of a utilitariandevice mandates a "nonobvious" advance over earlier technology, the patentability of a new and ornamental design requires that it differ from priordesigns to an extent that would not have been "obvious to a designer of ordinary skill who designs articles of the type involved." Ostensiblypromoting progress in design, Congress in 1842 shoehorned design protection into the existing utility patent system.