Dowd Scheffel Co-Authors Amicus Brief Supporting En Banc Review in Design Patent Case

Dowd Scheffel co-authored an amicus brief urging the full Federal Circuit to reassess the standard for design-patent infringement. The case at issue is Range and Motions Products, LLC v. Armaid Co. Inc. Dowd Scheffel founder Matthew J. Dowd, along with Robert J. Scheffel and Elliot Gee, drafted the amicus brief with amicus curiae Perry J. Saidman. The amicus brief urges the appeals court to reconsider the increasingly applied "plainly dissimilar" doctrine in design patent infringement cases and to reaffirm the central role of jury fact-finding under the ordinary observer test.

As the brief explains: "Because the 'sufficiently distinct' test is so unmoored from any objective analysis, it has become the de rigueur defense for accused infringers."

The amicus brief, alongside others, is examined and discussed in this recent article from Patently-O.

See also https://patentlyo.com/patent/2026/05/six-on-the-bench-the-federal-circuits-pending-en-banc-patent-petitions.html