Opinion ID: 449705
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Legal Evaluation for Obviousness

Text: 24 Although a patented invention may meet the requirement of novelty under 35 U.S.C. Sec. 102, 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, then the claimed invention is obvious and therefore invalid. 35 U.S.C. Sec. 103. The issue of obviousness-nonobviousness is ultimately determined as a conclusion of law reviewable by an appellate court, Nickola v. Peterson, 580 F.2d 898, 910-11 (6th Cir.1978); but this legal conclusion is based on factual findings which are binding on appeal unless they are clearly erroneous, id. at 911 (citing Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 17, 86 S.Ct. 684, 693, 15 L.Ed.2d 545 (1966) ). See Vandenberg v. Dairy Equipment Co., 740 F.2d 1560, 1565 (Fed.Cir.1984). 25 To determine obviousness under 35 U.S.C. Sec. 103: (1) the scope and content of the prior art are to be determined; (2) differences between the prior art and the claims at issue are to be ascertained; (3) the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art is to be resolved; (4) the obviousness or nonobviousness of the subject matter is to be determined; and (5) 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, since these may have relevancy as indicia of obviousness. Nickola v. Peterson, 580 F.2d at 911 (citing Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. at 17, 86 S.Ct. at 693). As post-Graham decisions have clarified, so-called secondary considerations must be considered by a court before coming to a conclusion regarding obviousness. Vandenberg v. Dairy Equipment Co., 740 F.2d at 1567; Nickola v. Peterson, 580 F.2d at 911 n. 21.