In the MAY 2024 case, LKQ CORP. v. GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overruled the longstanding Rosen-Durling test and devised a new test for determining design patent obviousness. In doing so, the LKQ Corp. court pushed the standard for design patent obviousness much closer to KSR International Co. and other utility patent obviousness precedents. Needless to say, LKQ Corp. stands as a milestone in patent law, and it would be crucial for patent practitioners to understand the implications of the LKQ Corp. decision.
In this article published in the July 2025 Illinois Bar Journal, Alicia Xue, an intellectual property law associate here at Lambert Shortell & Connaughton aims to:
1) provide an overview of the Rosen-Durling test and the overruling of it by the LKQ Corp. court;
2) provide an overview of the new test for design patent obviousness articulated in LKQ Corp;
3) discuss the legal implications of the LKQ Corp. decision and the legal questions left for future jurists to answer.