To a first approximation, design patents confer the right to stop others from making/using/selling things that look too much like what is in the picture of the

To a first approximation, design patents confer the right to stop others from making/using/selling things that look too much like what is in the picture of the patent and not enough like what existed before the patent. How it functions does not matter-just how it looks. Design patents do not last as long as utility patents, typically only 14 years, rather than 20. Design patents are generally much easier to design around than utility patents -- you could use a sufficiently different corner radius, put a curve in one side, add a hood ornament, etc. Most notably, and key in this case, the measure of damages is different: Disgorgement of profits for a design patent, versus a reasonable royalty for a utility patents. The issue in this case was profits on what--the whole phone, or just the component of the phone to which the design is applied. A reasonable reading of the statute suggested the former.