Is this patent expired?

Question

Is the USD388287 S patent expired? I am looking to design something similar to this.

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 09 '14 at 05:49

Design patents filed before Dec 18, 2013 have a patent term of 14 years from the date of grant. See http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2701.html#sect2701.

The design patent you listed was granted on Dec 30, 1997 and so it expired Dec 30, 2011.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 08 '14 at 14:57

Patents are typically granted for 20 years, which for this patents still have a few years to go.

The patent is a design patent, and it looks to me that the what is patented is the exact liking -- so you may be Ok to design something similar as long as it is not exactly the same.

Is this patent expired?

2 Answers2