Mobile World Congress opens in Barcelona, Spain, on February 25-28, 2019. To commemorate the mobile industry’s largest trade show, this blog will showcase various recently issued U.S. patents related to mobile technology.
U.S. Patent No. D835,596 S (‘596) issued on December 11, 2018, for “Mobile Phone.” It was issued to inventors Minsu Cho and Beyoung Lee of Seoul, Korea. The applicant/assignee is LG Electronics Inc., the South Korean electronics conglomerate. This patent is a design patent under 35 U.S.C. §171, which protects the ornamental features of an article of manufacture. The features cover a new scrollable mobile phone design. There is no indication that this relates to a product currently on the market, but, as with most design patents, it indicates the direction of LG’s future mobile product line.
Figure 1 below illustrates the ornamental features of the mobile phone.
Under 35 U.S.C. §173, the ‘244 patent, like all design patents, has a patent term of 15 years, and expires on December 11, 2033 (MPEP 1505).
The U.S. Patent Classification is D14/138 (recording, communication or information retrieval equipment, namely, slide type).
Many tech companies are realizing the benefits of a patent portfolio, which include extensive design patent portfolios. Design patents are about 10% of all patents issued by the USPTO, and that number is growing steadily every year. Please contact Yonaxis for more information on design patents, or patents in general, if you have any questions.