The level of ordinary skill may be comparatively low or comparatively high. Next, an assessment is made of the differences between the prior art and the claimed subject matter as a whole. It is not permissible to dissect the claim to determine whether or not it would have been obvious, because a novel combination of completely-known components can be a nonobvious invention. Objective evidence is useful because it helps the decision-maker understand the state of the art at the time the invention was made and avoid the dangers of hindsight. Commercial success shown to be linked to the merits of the invention can be powerful evidence of nonobviousness.
Commercial success implies that there was money to be made with the invention.
That in turn implies that the invention must not have been obvious, otherwise someone would have been using it to make money already. An invention need not be a Nobel prize winner to be patentably nonobvious.