Law360, New York ( April 12, 2016, 3:28 PM EDT) -- The U.S. Supreme Court's grant of certiorari to review the scope of patent damages for design patents in Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. v. Apple Inc., No 15-777, illustrates the elevated importance of design patents in recent years. Unlike utility patents whose damages are limited to either lost profits or reasonable royalty, under current law design patent owners are entitled to disgorgement of the entire unapportioned profits of the infringer regardless of the status of the design patent holder as practicing or nonpracticing entity. This is in contrast to utility patent damages, which are limited to a reasonable royalty or lost profits of the patent holder. While the Supreme Court reviews appropriateness of disgorgement of entire unapportioned profits of the infringer of a design patent, the extent to which these patents are susceptible to post-grant challenge within the patent office is important to know....