Opinion ID: 449705
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Validity of Design Patent D.'674

Text: 12 The second major issue on appeal is the correctness of the trial court's ruling that Kwik-Site's Design Patent Number 231,674 (D.'674) is valid and is infringed by Clear View's See Through mount. At trial Clear View contended D.' 674 was invalid for several reasons, many of which the trial court addressed and found meritless. The trial court's opinion, however, did not directly address the issue whether, as Clear View contends, D.'674 is invalid for the reason that its configuration, which distinguishes it from prior art, is functional and utilitarian rather than ornamental. Indeed, the trial judge held that it was the functional and utilitarian configuration of D.'674 that made it patentable. (Jt.App. 248). Thus, the very reason that the district court held D.'674 valid is precisely the reason why it is invalid. 13 A design patent may be issued for any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. 35 U.S.C. Sec. 171 (emphasis added). In order to be valid, a design patent must disclose a design that is new, original and ornamental, unanticipated and inventive in character, and beyond the skill of the ordinary designer or draftsman ... A design patent cannot be obtained to protect a mechanical function or cover an article whose configuration affects its utility alone. Spaulding v. Guardian Light Co., 267 F.2d 111, 112 (7th Cir.1959) (citations omitted) (emphasis added). See for same proposition Schwinn Bicycle Co. v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 444 F.2d 295, 298 (9th Cir.1970); Barofsky v. General Electric Corp., 396 F.2d 340, 342 (9th Cir.1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1031, 89 S.Ct. 644, 21 L.Ed.2d 575 (1969); Methode Electronics, Inc. v. Elco Corp., 385 F.2d 138, 141 (3d Cir.1967); Bentley v. Sunset House Distributing Corp., 359 F.2d 140, 145 (9th Cir.1966). 14 A see through mount is an apparatus that attaches to the top of a rifle and functions to hold a telescopic sighting device above and provides an area below through which the iron sight may be used. The see through mounts at issue here are comprised of two metal rings, one on top of the other. The top (mounting) ring is round in shape and holds a telescopic sighting device. The lower ring, or underscope, is a kidney-shaped opening that allows the shooter an unmagnified view for sighting without removing the telescopic sight. Figures 1 and 2, Appendix hereto, depict a see through mount and illustrate how the mount appears when attached to a rifle. Figures 3 and 4, Appendix, show two views of the mount embodied in Kwik-Site's patent D.'674. 15 Clear View correctly contends the only feature distinguishing the D.'674 see through mount from prior art is the enlargement of the lower ring. According to Clear View, and we agree, altering the configuration of the lower ring to a broader, flatter shape served only functional, not ornamental, purposes, and therefore D.'674 is invalid. 16 In its brief, Kwik-Site unartfully attempts to rebut the argument that the D.' 674's configuration affects only its utility by stating: 17 [T]he evidence clearly presented [sic] indicated that Plaintiff's [D.'674] mount was the first to utilize the unique design dip feature which allows for non-scope/underscope sighting, with a wide view [sic] of vision. It was not a utility patent, but a design patent and the testimony adduced at the time of trial indicated the design patent features of the mount. The dip feature was not a functional feature of the patent. How is a dip going to be a functional feature. The totality of the design was the design feature ruled upon by the Court at the time of trial. 18 (Kwik-Site Brief at 23). 19 As discussed in the following paragraphs, this court finds that the wider, flatter underscope bed of the D.'674 is a functional configuration affecting only the utility of the mount. Therefore, we hold the D.'674 invalid. 20 We first address Kwik-Site's erroneous contention that the dip feature, whereby the upper ring dips into the underscope sighting bed, is unique to the D.'674 patent. The trial testimony of Mr. Jiminez, Kwik-Site's appellate brief, and the trial court's opinion all imply that the dip feature of the D.' 674 is new and unique. But an examination of the prior art cited in the D.'674 patent application establishes that Mr. Jiminez and Mr. Rubin previously had patented a see through mount for a telescopic rifle sight. (Design Patent Number 220,483) (D.'483) that incorporated the same dip feature as found in D.' 674. In fact, Mr. Jiminez testified that since 1969 he had utilized the dip in all of his see through mounts. (Tr. 5/14/82, am, at 50). The only distinction between Kwik-Site's D.'674 and its earlier D.'483 is that the underscope bed of D.'674 is kidney-shaped while the underscope of D.'483 is round. (Tr. 5/20/82 at 79-80). Thus, this kidney-shaped, flatter, wider underscope bed, not the dip, is the unique feature of D.'674's design. 21 Contrary to Kwik-Site's argument on appeal, the record is devoid of any ornamental feature of the D.'674 Kwik-Site mount. Rather, the evidence illustrated that the kidney-shaped underscope bed served only functional purposes. The trial testimony of Mr. Jiminez, designer of D.'674, established that the D.'674's enlarged underscope sighting bed allowed the viewer, when aiming the rifle, to position his face closer to the scope and thus get a better view through the sight. The D.'674's wider, flatter underscope bed enabled the scope to be positioned closer to the rifle so that the viewer did not have to raise his eyes to aim. Additionally, the underscope bed's added width also allowed the viewer to see more of the target than could be seen through prior, narrower underscope beds. 22 Since all the evidence demonstrated that the D.'674's configuration served only utilitarian purposes, and since a design patent may not be obtained to cover an article whose configuration affects its utility alone, Spaulding v. Guardian Light Co., 267 F.2d at 112, we find invalid Kwik-Site's patent D.'674.