On October 23, 2018, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the “PTAB”) invalidated a design patent over the shape of an aircraft lavatory, because it had been on-sale prior to the filing date. U.S. Design Patent No. D764,031 S (“the ‘031 patent”) concerned the ornamental design of an aircraft lavatory where the walls were slightly recessed.
Whereas a utility patent covers the way an invention is used and how it works, a design patent solely protects the ornamental appearance of an invention.
The On-Sale Bar
Under 35 U.S.C.A. § 102(a)(1), an inventor is not entitled to a patent if the claimed invention was “described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.” This is known as the “on-sale bar.” Here, the PTAB invalidated the ‘031 patent because the patent holder B/E Aerospace, Inc. (the “Patent Owner”) was selling the design prior to the filing date of the patent.
The patent challenger, C & D Zodiac, Inc., specifically pointed to a slide show presentation created by the Patent Owner, as evidence that the lavatory design was on sale and in public use prior to the date of filing. The Patent Owner’s presentation noted that it had received an $800 million contract to sell its lavatory design to Boeing. Photographic evidence showed the lavatory which was being sold to Boeing was virtually identical in design to the ‘031 patent.
Thus, the PTAB found, based on preponderance of the evidence, that the design claimed by the ‘031 patent was embodied by the product that the Patent Owner was already selling, prior to the filing date of the patent. Accordingly, the ‘031 patent was invalidated pursuant to the on-sale bar of 35 U.S.C.A. § 102(a)(1).
This article was originally published in the New York City Bar Association’s Aeronautics Committee Newsletter. The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily of the City Bar.
The decision of the PTAB is available at: C&D Zodiac Inc. v. B/E Aerospace, Inc., No. PGR2017-00019, 2018 WL 5298631 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 23, 2018).