2024 Design Law Materials
We celebrated the 2024 Design Law Symposium, marking our tenth year of addressing key issues in design law. This year’s theme, “The Article of Manufacture,” directed our focus to important topics such as the LKQ decision and AI-driven design generation.
We were thrilled to have Judge Pauline Newman as our keynote speaker, who discussed the evolution of design law since the creation of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
The symposium featured a distinguished lineup of speakers who provided valuable insights and practical strategies in a series of engaging and informative sessions.
Presentation materials are available at the links below.
Design Law 2024
| Time | Topic | Speakers |
| 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM | Registration and Breakfast | |
| 9:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Welcome Remarks and Conference Introduction | Robert Katz, Banner Witcoff Tracy Durkin, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox |
| 9:15 AM – 9:30 AM | Meet the Acting Deputy Commissioner for Patents, Design | Robert Katz, Introducer Karen M. Young, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Patents, Design, USPTO |
| 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM | LKQ: what is it all about and what is its impact likely to be? Download the presentation here. | Tracy Durkin, Moderator Sean J. Jungels, Banner Witcoff Karen M. Young, USPTO Hon. John Kerins, Administrative Patent Judge, Retired, USPTO Dunstan H. Barnes, Shareholder, McAndrews, Held & Malloy Tim Fletcher, Owner, One BusinessDesign, LLC |
| 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM | Morning Break | |
| 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM | How the Title Impacts Design Patent Rights Download the presentation here. | Robert Katz, Moderator Perry J. Saidman, Saidman Design Law Group Daniel A. Gajewski, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox Richard Stockton, Banner Witcoff Mark D. Janis, Indiana University Bloomington, Maurer School of Law |
| 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Lunch and Networking | |
| 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM | Keynote Address, Evolution of Design Law | Tracy Durkin, Introduction Hon. Pauline Newman, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit |
| 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM | The Effect of AI Design Generation on design rights, including Inventorship and prior art Download the presentation here. | Tracy Durkin, Moderator Elizabeth D. Ferrill, Finnegan Ivy Estoesta, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox Joshua L. Davenport, Banner Witcoff |
| 2:30 PM – 2:45 PM | Afternoon Break | |
| 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM | Strategy considerations for design patent enforcement against online sellers Download the presentation here. | Robert Katz, Moderator Katie Laatsch Fink, Banner Witcoff Deirdre Wells, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox |
| 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM | International Updates – EU Design Law Reform, China Practice Update Download the presentation here. | Tracy Durkin, Moderator Ivan Sempere, Co-CEO and founding partner, PADIMA (Alicante, Spain) Lili Wu, HanKun (Beijing, China) |
| 4:45 PM – 5:00 PM | Town Hall and Wrap-Up | Rob Katz, Banner Witcoff Tracy Durkin, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox |
| 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Closing Reception | Transition to Penthouse/Rooftop Terrance on 11th Floor |