A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision in Junker v. Medical Components, Martech Medical Products, 2021-1649, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 3647 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2022), serves as a reminder for businesses to carefully watch commercial activity with respect to the bar date for patent applications.

The subject of the appeal is Larry G. Junker’s design patent claiming an ornamental design for a handle for an introducer sheath shown below with solid lines.

Junker design patent. Image from court documents Junker design. Image from court documents