by MAnderson | May 20, 2020 | [sub] printed matter, Claim Interpretation, Obviousness
Even before the Supreme Court case Alice v. CLS Bank limited the areas of economic and financial innovation which could be patented, Congress was looking at ways to restrict patent applications and patent enforcement in these fields. In addition to business method...
by Steve Driskill | Dec 7, 2016 | [sub] motivation, Obviousness
Merely adopting the position of one of the parties to an appeal or review is generally insufficient to support a finding of obviousness by the PTAB. Here, for example, the PTAB’s reliance on only a conclusory statement by an expert that the modification of the prior...
by Steve Driskill | Oct 7, 2016 | [sub] motivation, Obviousness
It is generally not obvious to reach across fields and select an admittedly undesirable feature with which to modify another prior art reference. Here, for example, no motivation to combine was found for modifying a primary reference directed to a mobile phone with a...
by Steve Driskill | Sep 22, 2016 | [sub] motivation, Obviousness
A change in specific functionality does not automatically negate a combination of prior art elements in establishing obviousness. Here, for example, modifying a prior art reference’s telephone speaker to perform the claimed announcing of a caller’s identity as well as...
by Steve Driskill | Aug 31, 2016 | [sub] motivation, Obviousness
Similarities in manufacturing processes alone cannot negate an explicit difference between a product in the prior art and that of the claimed invention. Here, for example, the desugared sugar beet molasses of the claimed invention was found to sufficiently distinguish...
by Steve Driskill | Aug 10, 2016 | [sub] motivation, Obviousness
A “common sense” reason for adding a missing limitation to the prior art to establish obviousness is generally improper unless the limitation is unusually simple and a reasoned analysis is still provided. Here, for example, adding a search operation to detect...