IP Blog
commercial success
Limits on Obviousness - Beyond the Claim Elements
Here is a lesson on obviousness. The Federal Circuit agreed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that claims for a system to measure degradation of cooking oils in a deep fryer were non-obvious under 35 U.S.C. §103. The PTAB had found that a skilled artisan would not have been motivated to combine the identified references, and that secondary...
PTAB Unpersuaded by Evidence of Commercial Success
The burden on an Appellant is seemingly high when arguing commercial success as a secondary consideration of nonobviousness in an ex parte PTAB appeal. The decision in Ex parte Thatcher, Appeal No. 2015-002163 (April 4, 2017) is an example of the PTAB remaining unpersuaded by arguments of commercial success. The patent application at issue claims a powered mopping and cleaning...