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