Copyright law broadly protects creative works and the human endeavors required to create an original work of authorship. However, creativity should not be confused with utility. A dictionary definition for “creativity” is “ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new.” A definition for “utility” is “the quality or state of being useful.” A …
Category: functionality
Fed Circuit Watch: Fed Circuit Declines to Expand Design Patent Law
On July 23, 2019, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit publicly released an intriguing design patent ruling involving design patents covering Ford’s F-150 truck. In Automotive Body Parts Assn. v. Ford Global Techs., LLC,[1] the Fed Circuit declined to expand trademark law’s functionality doctrine to design patent law, and also declined to create …