Two's a Crowd: Prior Art in Design Patent Claim Construction

Two's a Crowd: Prior Art in Design Patent Claim Construction | Jones Day


On April 15, 2021, the PTAB issued a Final Written Decision in the
First, some background on “crowded” prior art.  Federal Circuit law says that “crowded” prior art can influence whether we read design patent claims holistically or focus on their details.  For example, “[w]here there are many examples of similar prior art designs … differences between the claimed and accused designs that might not be noticeable in the abstract can become significant to the hypothetical ordinary observer who is conversant with the prior art.” 
Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., 543 F.3d 665, 678 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (en banc).
But what makes prior art “crowded?”  How “many” references make up a “crowd?”  How “similar” must references be?  Precedent is sparse, but suggests the answers are, respectively, “not many” and “not very.”  In

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