Obviousness
What does "Obviousness" mean in law?
Obviousness is a statutory bar to patentability under 35 U.S.C. section 103, which provides that a patent may not be obtained if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time of filing to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA). The Supreme Court's landmark framework from Graham v. John Deere Co. (1966) requires courts to consider: (1) the scope and content of the prior art, (2) the differences between the prior art and the claims, (3) the level of ordinary skill in the art, and (4) secondary considerations such as commercial success, long-felt need, and failure of others. Obviousness is the most frequently litigated ground for patent invalidity and requires careful, claim-by-claim analysis.
Definition
Obviousness is a statutory bar to patentability under 35 U.S.C. section 103, which provides that a patent may not be obtained if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time of filing to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA). The Supreme Court's landmark framework from Graham v. John Deere Co. (1966) requires courts to consider: (1) the scope and content of the prior art, (2) the differences between the prior art and the claims, (3) the level of ordinary skill in the art, and (4) secondary considerations such as commercial success, long-felt need, and failure of others. Obviousness is the most frequently litigated ground for patent invalidity and requires careful, claim-by-claim analysis.
Example
A patent examiner rejects a claim for a solar-powered phone charger as obvious because existing prior art separately described portable solar panels and phone charging circuits, and combining them would have been straightforward to an electrical engineer of ordinary skill.