Design Patent for Nail Buffer Not Infringed Where Only Non-Trivial Advance from Prior Art Was Absent in Defendant's Design

Case: Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., Fed. Cir. No. 2006-1562 (8/29/07)


The One Sentence Summary: The district court properly determined on summary judgment that a design patent for a nail buffer was not infringed where the only non-obvious point of novelty was not present in defendant's buffer.


Federal Circuit Holdings:

• Infringement of a design patent can be established by the ordinary observer or the point of novelty tests.
• For a combination of individually known design elements to constitute a point of novelty, the combination must be a non-trivial advance over the prior art.
• The district court correctly determined that the only possible non-trivial point of novelty was not present in defendant's design.
• The dissent argued that the majority created a new test in this case.