Spotlight On Upcoming Oral Arguments – January 2019

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Automotive Body Parts Ass'n v. Ford Global Technologies LLC, No. 18-1613, Courtroom 203

The Automotive Body Parts Association ("ABPA") appeals from an Eastern District of Michigan decision granting summary judgment for Ford.  The district court held that Ford's design patents directed to the exterior of an F-150 truck hood and F-150 headlamp were not invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 171 because the claimed designs are ornamental, not functional. 

ABPA argues that the claimed designs are functional and that the design is dictated by the need for the parts to "mate and match" with the other F-150 parts.  ABPA argues that the claimed designs are necessary to work with the combination of other F-150 parts both when originally sold as part of the F-150 truck and when purchased as a repair/replacement part.  Alternatively, ABPA argues that the authorized sale of the F-150 truck exhausts the patent rights in the claimed designs and creates an implied