#design-patents

#design-patents

"We see no reason to distinguish between disclaimer by amendment and disclaimer by argument and conclude that a patentee may surrender claim scope of a design patent by its representations to the Patent Office during prosecution."

If the 'sufficiently distinct' test is intended to impose a special gloss on Rule 56, that gloss cannot stand.

The claimed design is a cooling blanket -- with the drawings showing a 6x5 array pattern. The priority filing included a 6x6 array, a 6x4 array.