Opinion ID: 298437
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the test for obviousness

Text: 15 The statutory requirement of non-obviousness for patentability rests upon 35 U.S.C. § 103, enacted in 1952, which provides: 16 A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. 17 In Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 86 S.Ct. 684, 15 L.Ed.2d 545 (1966), the Supreme Court enunciated the guidelines of inquiry into obviousness under § 103: 18 Under § 103, the scope and content of the prior art are to be determined; differences between the prior art and the claims at issue are to be ascertained; and the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art resolved. Against this background, the obviousness or nonobviousness of the subject matter is determined. Such secondary considerations as commercial success, long felt but unsolved needs, failure of others, etc., might be utilized to give light to the circumstances surrounding the origin of the subject matter sought to be patented. As indicia of obviousness or nonobviousness, these inquiries may have relevancy. [383 U.S. at 17-18, 86 S.Ct. at 694] 19 The Court noted that while the ultimate question of patent validity is one of law, Great A & P Tea Co. v. Supermarket Corp., 340 U.S. 147, 71 S.Ct. 127, 95 L. Ed. 162 (1950), the determination of obviousness lends itself to several basic factual inquiries. The Court recognized in Graham that the question of obviousness is not a question upon which there is likely to be uniformity of thought in every given factual context. 383 U.S. at 18, 86 S.Ct. at 694. It advised using the same judicial approach as that employed in deciding questions of negligence and scienter. Id. 20 In applying the substantive standards of patentability to the claimed inventions in the instant case, we must follow established principles of patent construction. A presumption of validity attaches to patents that have survived the scrutiny of the Patent Office, and the burden of establishing patent invalidity rests upon the party asserting it. 4 Mr. Justice White, writing for a unanimous Court in Blonder-Tongue Laboratories, Inc. v. University of Illinois Foundation, 402 U.S. 313, 91 S.Ct. 1434, 28 L.Ed.2d 788 (decided May 3, 1971), observed that patentees are heavily favored as a class of litigants by the patent statute. Id. at 335, 91 S.Ct. at 1446. 21 In holding the Conibear and Lehn patents invalid, the district court noted with particularity that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals do[es] not afford a congenial forum to the holder of a United States patent. 312 F.Supp. at 370. Although in other cases 5 since Graham, supra, we have not sustained the validity of any patent claim, these decisions cannot bind us here. We have not considered any device or process similar to those submitted on this appeal. The test for obviousness must be resolved upon a case-by-case analysis. Graham, supra, 383 U.S. at 18, 86 S.Ct. 684; Agrashell, Inc. v. Hammons Products Company, 413 F.2d 89, 93 (8th Cir. 1969); National Connector Corporation v. Malco Manufacturing Company, 392 F.2d 766, 771 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 923, 89 S.Ct. 254, 21 L.Ed.2d 259 (1968); L & A Products, Inc. v. Britt Tech Corporation, 365 F.2d 83, 86 (8th Cir. 1966). With these basic principles in mind, we turn to an examination of the obviousness of the patents in issue. 22