Just in time to discuss in the intellectual property class I’m way too excited about (and likely way over my head), a terrible decision has come from the Federal Court of Appeals vastly reducing the requirement to prove infringement on design patents.

Design patents cover the visual design of an object rather than its function like regular, utility patents and covers products like jewelry, furniture, and computer icons and fonts.

The decision changes the standard to prove infringement from “point of novelty” to the “ordinary observer” test where a patent is infringing if a ordinary person rather than an expert thinks the design is unique.

The silver lining in this case is the patent holder Egyptian Goddess lost the case even with the reduced burden of proof. But as we’ve seen with the current patent system, reduced burden of proof leads to more patents, more lawsuits, more money wasted, and more innovation lost.

Yeah, be prepared. I’m in IP mode for the next 10 weeks.