How is the scope of prior art determined for design patents?
The scope of prior art for design patents extends to all “analogous arts.” The MPEP provides specific guidance for evaluating analogous arts in the design context:
“In re Glavas, 230 F.2d 447, 450 109 USPQ 50, 52 (CCPA 1956) provides specific guidance for evaluating analogous arts in the design context, which should be used to supplement the general requirements for analogous art as follows:
The question in design cases is not whether the references sought to be combined are in analogous arts in the mechanical sense, but whether they are so related that the appearance of certain ornamental features in one would suggest the application of those features to the other.
This means that for design patents, the focus is on the visual appearance and whether the ornamental features of one design would suggest applying those features to another, rather than strictly considering whether the arts are mechanically analogous.
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