IANAL, and obviously this varies by jurisdiction, but I do know that in North America a design patent strictly covers aesthetic aspects of a design. A Coke bottle is the classic design patent; it does not cover all tapered bottles, only one shaped like a coke bottle.
This object differs significantly from MOD54 in appearance (three legs, different shape on ends, etc) so I can't see how there would be an IP issue here?
A utility patent could, as you say, be a different issue of course.
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