"Point Of Novelty" Test Remains For Design Patent Infringement
Client Alert | 1 min read | 02.23.06
In Lawman Armor Corporation v. Winner International, LLC et al. (No. 05-1253; February 22, 2006), a Federal Circuit panel affirms a district court's summary judgment of non-infringement of a design patent for a vehicle steering wheel lock assembly. In the district court , Lawman identified eight points of novelty of the patented design , to which Winner responded by identifying patents depicting each of those eight points. Accordingly, the district court found that the points of novelty were found in the prior art and granted summary judgment of non-infringement. The panel finds that Lawman made no attempt to show that the district court erred in its decision providing that the eight points of novelty are disclosed in the prior art. The Federal Circuit panel rejects Lawman's argument that there was no suggestion to combine the prior art elements to achieve the patented design, essentially arguing that the combination of the prior art elements is itself a ninth point of novelty. This decision maintains the long-standing "point of novelty" design patent infringement test, namely, that an accused device must appropriate the novel features of the patented design, specifically those features that distinguish it from the prior art.
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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
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