And of course the partnership doesn't answer all the interesting questions, like: "What if this firm wanted to get a design patent?" #LKQvGM

On first skim, this decision might be most notable for its discussion of #LKQvGM:

I'm skeptical. Finding prior art is difficult, yes. But if examiners are applying #LKQvGM the same way that the PTAB is (at least so far), finding closer prior art still won't necessarily lead to a significant increase in design patent rejections.

And no, I haven't yet seen any evidence that #LKQvGM has meaningfully changed that fact.

Not to mention § 103 and analogous arts, post- #LKQvGM.

Here is the patented design and three references identified by these defendants. They argue that the claim is both anticipated and obvious. I'm not seeing anticipation there. Obviousness, maybe, depending on how the court applies #LKQvGM.