PAST EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• "Nail Buffers, Saddles & Silverware", The Michigan IP Law Association, Dearborn, MI, April 8, 2008.
  Perry Saidman unpacked the hot Federal Circuit en banc rehearing of Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa, which promises to be the most anticipated design patent decision in the last 100 years, affecting design patent enforcement for years to come. He also reviewed the Calmar v. Arminak decision for which a Petition for Cert. was recently filed in the US Supreme Court.
  
  
• "Practical Tips on Obtaining U.S. Design Patents", American Bar Association, Section of IP Law, Young Lawyers Committee, Arlington, VA, April 9, 2008.
  For newcomers to the bar, Perry Saidman reviewed the basics of design patent protection, and discussed practical tips for filing and prosecuting design patent applications in the USPTO that maximize scope while maintaining flexibility to cover knock-offs. His handout included a short paper "U.S. Design Patents"
  
  
• "Design Law: 2008 and Beyond", BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal Advisory Board, Arlington, Virginia, January 31, 2008.
  Perry Saidman spoke to the Advisory Board of BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal (PTCJ) on the hot design patent topics of the day, including the Markman determination of design patent claims, and the efficacy of the point of novelty test for infringement, both issues being the subject of the Egyptian Goddess case now before the Federal Circuit in the first en banc rehearing of a design patent case ever
  
  
• "The Time Has Come for a U.S. Design Registration System", American Intellectual Property Law Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, October 18, 2007.
  Perry Saidman made the case for a sui generis design registration law before an overflow crowd at the AIPLA Annual Meeting last fall (October, 2007). See www.protectdesigns.org.
  
  
• "Design Protection: Has the Time Come for a Copyright-Based Design Registration Law in the U.S.? History of U.S. Efforts Regarding Sui Generis Design Protection Law", Intellectual Property Owners Association Annual Meeting, New York, New York, September 11, 2007.
  Perry Saidman reviewed the tortuous 90-year history of U.S. efforts to pass a sui generis design registration law.
  
  
• "Design Law: The Neglected Branch of IP", The George Washington University , National Law Center, Washington, DC, November 1, 2007.
  Perry Saidman, at the invitation of GW Law Professor Robert Brauneis, returned to his alma mater to speak to law students at the National Law Center about the many branches of IP that need to be considered when protecting designs: contracts, design patents, utility patents, trade dress, and copyrights. He concluded with a discussion of the crisis in the law of designs, and the proposal for a sui generis design registration law.
  
  
• "Design Patents", Japanese Intellectual Property Association, 2007 Seminar, Washington, DC, November 1, 2007.
  Perry Saidman, making extensive use of slides illustrating the designs in question, spoke to a large gathering of Japanese patent attorneys about U.S. design patents at JIPA's annual seminar. Last year, Perry's talk was voted "most popular" by the students in attendance, and he was well received this year as well.

THE DESIGN REGISTRATION LEAGUE is now forming!

Executive Director, Perry J. Saidman

www.protectdesigns.org

The Design Registration League is a coalition of design-conscious companies, associations and individual designers whose singular goal is to get the U.S. Congress to introduce and pass long overdue sui generis industrial design legislation. Such a law would not only strengthen our national economy, but also harmonize our laws with international design protection systems.

Charter Membership Information |	The Crisis in the Law of Designs
	89 Journal of The Patent and Trademark Office Society (JPTOS) 301, April, 2007

USPTO Design Day April 16th, 2007

Crisis in the Law of Designs Design patents used to be the "go-to" form of protection for industrial designs. Today, the positive attributes of design patents are under attack, rendering the law of designs in a true state of crisis. The Microsoft/IDSA Designer Spotlight Series presents "The Crisis in the Law of Designs," led by Perry Saidman, Esq., Affiliate Member, IDSA, founder of SAIDMAN DesignLaw Group, Wednesday, March 21, at 1:00 pm ET. This discussion will explain the causes of this crisis, employing actual case studies. It will conclude with a suggestion for resurrecting a long-forgotten legal reform that will provide a design protection scheme that actually makes sense in the 21st century. To register, visit http://www.idsa.org/webmodules/webforms/designer_spotlight_2007.htm, or call Donna at 703.707.6000.
IDSA sent a letter of appreciation after the presentation

SFIPLA (San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association),
San Francisco, California October 26, 2006
SFIPLA sent a letter of appreciation after the presentation.

2006 Corporate Counsel Conference,
Hilton Head, South Carolina November 14, 2006

IPO (Intellectual Property Owners Association) Annual Meeting,
Chicago, Illinois Sept. 12, 2006

AOAIOIP (All Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property),
Cleveland & Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 14-15, 2006

Japanese Intellectual Property Association (JIPA) U.S. Intellectual Property Law Conference

International Trademark Association (INTA) 2005 Worldwide Forum on Marks

LOOKS MATTER. LEGALLY® registered as a service mark by USPTO

Amicus Curiae brief

The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) has filed an Amicus Curiae brief in support of a rehearing of the Lawman v. Winner design patent case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In the Lawman case, the Court had held that the point of novelty in a design patent infringement determination cannot consist of a combination of old design elements. Perry Saidman, who filed the brief on behalf of the IDSA, said: This case, if allowed to stand, could be a disaster for design patent holders. After all, all designs are, at some level, a combination of known design elements. The Court made a fundamental error, and the IDSA has stepped up to the plate to try and correct it. Other organizations, notably NIKE and the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) have also filed Amicus briefs. If the Court grants the petition for rehearing, there will be another round of briefs filed as well as oral argument. For a downloadable copy of the IDSA Amicus brief, click Amicus Curiae brief

Saidman Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of IDSA

In the summer of 2004, Perry Saidman, with the assistance of associate Allison Singh, was engaged to prepare and file a brief Amicus Curiae in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) in a design patent case, Minka v. Craftmade. The brief focused on one issue: should the Markman requirement that a court construe the meaning and scope of a patent claim, as a prelude to determining infringement, apply to design patents? The IDSA took the position in the brief that it should not. IDSA Certificate of Gratitude for Amicus A short article explaining the position of IDSA was published in the IDSA newsletter, design perspectives, in August, 2004. Following is a link to that story:

Legal Eagle LAWYER WARNS OF ERODING PATENT PROTECTION

The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently declined to review the Minka v. Craftmade case. However, Perry has written a paper echoing the same theme, "The Death of Gorham Co. v. White: Killing It Softly With Markman." This paper will hopefully spread the word to design patent owners and their lawyers about this significant issue, so that perhaps others will be making similar arguments in their cases so that the law may eventually be changed. The TTABlog

Japanese Delegation Visits SAIDMAN DesignLaw Group to Discuss U.S. Laws

Pictured left to right: Mr. Hiroshi Kitaoka, Mr. Norio Mori, Mr. Perry Saidman, Ms. Naomi Kimoto, and Mr. Jiro Kida.

The main topics discussed were: the scope of US design patents; design patent infringement criteria; the degree of difference necessary in applying the 'ordinary observer' test to find/avoid infringement; multiple embodiments in design patents; how to obtain broad U.S. design patent protection; shortened pendency times for U.S. design patent applications; and the future of U.S. design patents and the effect of various court holdings. Mr. Saidman showed the delegation various slides from his PowerPoint database to demonstrate the many principles under discussion.

The delegation also included two Deputy Directors from the Legislative Affairs Office of the JPO, Mr. Jiro Kida and Ms. Naomi Kimoto; and Mr. Hiroshi Kitaoka, Director of the Washington Office of the Institute of Intellectual Property.

The delegation sent a letter of appreciation after their meeting.