## Facts

- Kenneth Reiner filed a design patent application claiming an ornamental design for a terminal box.
- The drawings showed the front and certain side views of the terminal box but did not depict the rear portion.
- The examiner issued a final rejection based on inadequate disclosure, reasoning that a design application must show the entire article, including the rear surface.
- Reiner appealed the rejection to the U.S. Patent Office Board of Appeals.

## Issues

1. Whether a design patent application may be rejected for insufficient disclosure solely because the drawings omit the rear portion of the article.
2. Whether design drawings must depict all surfaces of an article even when an omitted surface is unornamented and not visible in normal use.

## Decision

- The Board of Appeals reversed the examiner’s rejection.
- The Board held that omission of the rear portion did not, by itself, make the design disclosure inadequate.
- The Board accepted that a design applicant is not required to depict portions that are unornamented and not visible in normal use, so long as the drawings adequately convey the claimed ornamental appearance.

## Legal Principles

- The disclosure requirement for design patents is satisfied when the drawings adequately show the claimed ornamental design and provide a clear visual understanding of the appearance for which protection is sought.
- A rejection for drawing insufficiency cannot rest solely on the failure to depict every surface of the article; the inquiry focuses on whether the claimed ornamental features are fully and clearly disclosed.
- Portions of an article that are both (a) unornamented and (b) not visible in normal conditions of use may be omitted from design drawings without rendering the disclosure insufficient, if the claimed design is otherwise adequately shown.

## Conclusion

The Board reversed a drawing-based rejection of a terminal box design application, holding that design disclosure does not require depiction of a hidden, unornamented rear surface when the drawings otherwise sufficiently disclose the claimed ornamental appearance.


Ex parte Reiner, 142 U.S.P.Q. 283 (Bd. App. 1964)