PTAB

PGR2020-00003

LKQ Corp v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC

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Key Events
Petition
petition

1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Vehicle Rear Bumper
  • Brief Description: The ’703 patent claims the ornamental design for a vehicle rear bumper. The design is characterized by an elongated, horizontally stretched body that curves at its side edges, a top surface with a central depression, negative spaces at the outer corners, a lower perimeter scalloped upward near the center, and geometric cutouts along the lower perimeter.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Obviousness over Sierra in view of Escalade - The claim is obvious over the 2014 GMC Sierra in view of the 2012 Cadillac Escalade.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: 2014 GMC Sierra (disclosed in online articles and brochures) and 2012 Cadillac Escalade (disclosed in online photographs and brochures).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that the primary reference, the 2014 GMC Sierra, discloses a rear bumper design that is “basically the same” as the claimed design in the ’703 patent. The Sierra was alleged to show the same overall shape and dimensions, an elongated bumper curving at the edges, a top surface with a central depression, negative space at the outer corners, and a similarly scalloped lower perimeter. Petitioner contended that any minor differences in the angles of these features between the Sierra and the claimed design were de minimis. The only significant design element missing from the Sierra was the pair of "geometric cutouts" on the lower perimeter. This missing feature, Petitioner asserted, is supplied by the secondary reference, the 2012 Cadillac Escalade, which clearly shows geometric, squared cutouts on its rear bumper to accommodate exhaust pipes.
    • Motivation to Combine: Petitioner argued a designer of ordinary skill in the art (POSITA) would combine the ornamental features of the Sierra and the Escalade. Both are large vehicles (a truck and an SUV) from the same patent owner (GM), and both references concern the same component: a rear bumper. A POSITA would be motivated to add the well-known design feature of geometric exhaust cutouts from the Escalade to the base design of the Sierra to create a "bolder, more powerful appearance," a common and predictable design goal in the automotive industry.
    • Expectation of Success: A POSITA would have a clear expectation of success in making this modification, as it involved the simple application of a known design element (exhaust cutouts) to an existing bumper design to achieve a predictable aesthetic result.

Ground 2: Obviousness over Sierra in view of Ford Atlas - The claim is obvious over the 2014 GMC Sierra in view of the Ford Atlas Concept Truck.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: 2014 GMC Sierra (disclosed in online articles and brochures) and the Ford Atlas Concept Truck (disclosed online as early as January 2013).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: The core argument for the primary reference, the 2014 GMC Sierra, is identical to Ground 1. Petitioner asserted that the Sierra teaches every key design feature of the ’703 patent except for the geometric cutouts. This missing element is readily supplied by the secondary reference, the Ford Atlas Concept Truck. The Ford Atlas prominently features squared cutouts on the lower perimeter of its rear bumper to accommodate a dual exhaust system, directly teaching the missing design element. Petitioner noted that the prior art is "rife with vehicle designs" that include such cutouts.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would be motivated to modify the Sierra bumper by incorporating the geometric cutouts shown on the Ford Atlas. The Ford Atlas is a concept truck, a direct competitor in the same market segment as the Sierra. A designer looking to update or enhance the Sierra's appearance would naturally look to contemporary designs like the Ford Atlas for inspiration. Adding the integrated squared cutouts would be a straightforward modification to create a more aggressive and powerful appearance, a common objective in truck design.
    • Expectation of Success: The combination was presented as a predictable design choice. Combining the base design of the Sierra with the common, functional-ornamental feature of exhaust cutouts from the Ford Atlas would predictably result in the design claimed by the ’703 patent.

4. Key Claim Construction Positions

  • Petitioner did not propose constructions for specific claim terms. Instead, to facilitate its obviousness analysis under 35 U.S.C. §103, Petitioner verbally deconstructed the claimed ornamental design into five constituent features. This approach was used to map prior art elements onto the claimed design. The identified features were:
    • An elongated bumper stretching horizontally and curving back at the side edges.
    • A bumper top surface having a center depression area defined by angled sides.
    • Negative space at the outer corners of the bumper.
    • A lower perimeter line scalloped upward around the center line of the bumper.
    • Geometric cutouts on the lower perimeter line of the bumper.
  • Petitioner argued that this verbal breakdown evokes a visual image consistent with the claimed design and is essential for comparing it to the prior art references.

5. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requested that the Board institute a post grant review (PGR) and cancel the single claim of Patent D847,703 as unpatentable for obviousness.