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CEP:November2016

Patents:WhatMakesanInventionNonobvious?

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Patent:WhatMakeanInventionNonoviou?

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M.HenryHeines
November2016

Thisarticleisbasedonachapteroftheauthorslatestbook,FirsttoFile:PatentsforTodaysScientistandEngineer,publishedin2014bythe
AIChEWileyimprint.
Inadditiontobeingnovel,aninventionmustbenonobvioustoqualifyforapatent.Learnstrategiesthathaveandcanbeusedto
qualifyyourinventionasnonobvious.
Aninventionmustbebothnovelandnonobvioustoqualifyforapatent.Ofthesetworequirements,noveltyisthethreshold:Aninventionmustbe
novelbeforenonobviousnesscanbeconsidered.EstablishingnoveltywasthetopicofPatents:CrossingtheNoveltyThreshold,whichwas
publishedintheNov.2015issueofCEP(pp.3846).
Asfornonobviousness,thereisnoclearandstraightforwarddefinition,whichhasmadenonobviousnessthesubjectofdebateeversincethefirst
patentlawwasenacted.Thepatentcourtsagreethataninventionmustbeeitherobviousornonobvioustoahypotheticalpersonhavingordinary
skillintheart,butthecourtshavenotagreeduponthispersonscredentials.Neitheradvancedacademicdegreesnoracertainnumberofyearsof
workingexperiencearebythemselvesdeterminingfactors.Indeed,toomucheducationorexperiencecandisqualifyapersonaseasilyastoolittle.
Nevertheless,someguidelinesforassessingnonobviousnessarenecessary.Thisarticlesetsforththeseguidelines,byshowingthecommon
reactionsofinventorswhentoldtheirinventionsareobviousandthewaysinwhichtheU.S.PatentandTrademarkOffice(USPTO)andthecourts
haveresponded.

Inteverinventionacominationofoldelement?
Everyinventioncanbebrokendownintopartsandsubpartsuntilitisreducedtoacombinationofelementsthatarealreadyknown(i.e.,priorart).
Nevertheless,thereareseveralwaysinwhichcombinationsofknownelementscanbeshowntobenonobvious.
Thesynergisticeffect.Onewaytoshowthataninventionmadeupofacombinationofoldelementsisnonobviousistoshowthatthecombination
displaysasynergisticeffect.BayerCropSciencemadesuchashowinginobtainingitsPatentNo.8,524,634(1).Thepatentclaimsamethodfor
protectingagriculturalcropsagainstinsectsandotherpestsbytreatingthecropsortheirseedswithacombinationofclothianidinandasynthetic
pyrethroid.Bothclothianidinandsyntheticpyrethroidswerealreadyusedseparatelyasinsecticides,buttheyhadneverbeenusedasacombination.
Initsfieldtests,Bayerraisedcornplantsfromseedsthathadbeentreatedwithclothianidin,tefluthrin(asyntheticpyrethroid),oracombinationof
thetwo,atvariousapplicationrates(gramsofinsecticideperkilogramofseed),andtheninfestedtheplantswithblackcutworm,acommoncrop

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pest.Afteranappropriategrowingtime,theplantswereevaluatedforstandreduction(percentlossoftheplants)andpercentcontrol(ofthe
cutworm),bothrelativetoplotsofthesameplantsgrownfromuntreatedseeds.Plantsgrownfromseedstreatedwithacombinationofthetwo
insecticideshadalowerstandreductionandhigherpercentcontrolthanthosegrownfromseedstreatedwithjustoneoftheinsecticidesatthe
sametotalapplicationrate.Theseresultsestablishedthesynergisticeffectofusingacombinationofinsecticidesandhencethecombinations
nonobviousness.
Addinganewfunctiontoanoldelement.Whensynergismcannotbeshown,acombinationofoldelementscanstillbenonobviousifoneofthe
componentsinthecombinationperformsadifferentfunctionthanitdideitherbyitselforinapreviouslydisclosedcombination.
ThisargumentwasusedinobtainingPatentNo.7,713,133(2),whichclaimsatenniscourtsubstrateencrustedwithparticlesofwasteglassofa
specifiedsizerange.Thewasteglasshelpsmaintainthequalityofthesurfaceandeliminatestheneedforyearlyresurfacing.TheUSPTOinitially
rejectedtheclaims,citinganearlierpatentthatdisclosedtheuseofparticlesofwasteglassasafillerforroadwaypaving.Theinventorresponded
byarguingthattheglassparticlesperformadifferentfunctionwhentheyareonthesurfaceofthesubstratethantheydoasafillerand,neitherthe
existingknowledgeofpavingmaterialsnortheearlierpatentsdescriptionoftheuseofglassparticlesasafillerwouldprovidesufficientreasonfora
pavingcontractortoadheretheparticlestothesurfaceratherthantomixtheminwiththesubstratematerial.Theargumentsucceededatthe
AppealsBoard(3),andthepatentwasgranted.

Wouldarocketcientitconultaveterinarian(toprovideamiingelement)?
Mostlikelynot.Forinventionsthatcombineoldelementswithoutdisplayingsynergismorchangingthefunctionsoftheelements,theargumentof
unrelatedsourcescanbeused,i.e.,thesourcesarenotinsimilarorrelatedareasoftechnology,or,inlegalterms,theartsinwhichthevarious
elementswereoriginallyfoundarenotanalogoustoeachother.OneissuewiththisargumentisthattheUSPTOinterpretsthetermanalogous
broadly.Inventionscanneverthelessbenonobviousiftheoriginalsourcesofitselementsaresufficientlyremovedfromeachother(nonanalogous).
OnesuchinventionisclaimedinAnchorHoldingsPatentNo.8,224,669(4),whichisdirectedtoahealthcaremanagementsystemthatpatientsand
clinicianscanusetohelpmanagediabetesandotherchronicdiseases.Thesystemasclaimedincludesadatabasethatcontainsmedical,
education,exercise,anddietinformationformanagingthediseaseandallowsboththepatientandthecliniciantoaccesstheinformationandaddto
it.Thepatientcanindicatethereadingmaterialsthepatienthasreadfromalistprovidedbytheclinicianandtheclinicianisalertedwhenthepatient
hasreadallofthematerials.
WhenAnchorHoldingsappliedforthepatent,theexaminerrejectedtheapplicationoveracombinationofthreeearlierpatents.Twoofthepatents
weredirectedtosystemsformonitoringchronicdiseasesandthethirdwasdirectedtoasystemforcollecting,processing,anddistributing
informationtopromotedriversafetyforusebyautomobileinsurancecarriers.Theexaminercitedthethirdpatentinreferencetothecomponentof
AnchorHoldingsinventionthatenablesthepatienttoreporttotheclinicianwhichinstructionalmaterialshavebeenread.
AnchorHoldingsappealedtherejection,arguingthatthefieldoftechnologyofthethirdpatentwasnonanalogoustothoseofthefirsttwopatents
andtheAnchorHoldingsinvention.TheAppealsBoardagreedwithAnchorHoldings,notingthat[t]heanalogousarttestrequiresashowingthata
referenceiseitherinthefieldoftheapplicantsendeavororisreasonablypertinenttotheproblemwithwhichtheinventorwasconcernedinorderto
relyonthatreferenceasabasisforrejection,andthattheexaminerhadshownneither(5).

utnoodknewwhattheprolemwaeforeIcamealong!
Evenwhentheelementsofacombinationperformthesamefunctionthattheywereknowntoperformindividuallyandwereinitiallyfoundin
analogousarts,thecombinationcanstillbenonobviousiftheinventionliesinthediscoveryofaproblem,orofthecauseorsourceofaknown
problem.Anobvioussolutioncanbeapatentableinventioniftheproblemitself(oritscauseorsource)isnotobvious.
AktiebolagetHasslewasgrantedtwopatents(6,7)onceitshowedthatithaddiscoveredthecauseofaproblem.ThepatentsPatentNos.
4,786,505and4,853,230claimformulationsforomeprazole,theactiveingredientinPrilosec,adrugusedtotreatvariousdiseasescausedby
excessstomachacid.Omeprazoleismosteffectiveinanalkalineenvironmentandwasknowntodegradeinacidicmedia.Onitswaytothesmall
intestine,whichisalkaline,thedrugmustpassthroughthestomach,whoseacidicenvironmentisknowntodegradethedrug.Encasingthedrugin
anentericcoatingpreventedmuchofthisdegradation,butanacidicsubstanceinthecoatingitselfdegradedthedrug,particularlyduringstorage.
Drugcompaniestriedtosolvethisproblembyaddingalkalinecompoundstothedrugcore,butthedegradationpersisted.
TheinventorsinthetwoAktiebolagetpatentsaddedaprotectivesubcoatingbetweenthedrugcoreandtheentericcoating.Sinceomeprazoleis
knowntobesusceptibletowaterdegradation,therewasariskthatifthesubcoatingwerewatersoluble,itmightexposethedrugcoreto
degradationfromacidicgastricjuices.Totheinventorssurprise,however,asubcoatingcontainingwatersolublesubstancesnotonlyimprovedthe
drugsstoragestabilitybutalsothedrugsresistancetothegastricacidsofthestomach.Thepatentsthusclaimedthecombinationofacore
containingboththedrugandanalkalinecompound,awatersolublesubcoating,andanentericcoating.
WhenAktiebolagetsuedApotexforpatentinfringement,Apotexrespondedthatthepatentswereinvalidforobviousnessoverseveralreferences.
Onereferencedisclosedanomeprazoletabletthatincludedanomeprazolecorewithoutanalkalinecomponent,andanentericcoatingbutno
subcoating.Theotherreferencesdisclosedvariousdrugsthathadbothanentericcoatingandasubcoating,butdidnotincludeomeprazoleorany
otherdrugthatbehavedinthesamewayinthestomachorintestine.Aktiebolagetrespondedthatthefirstreferenceindicatedneithertheneedto
stabilizetheomeprazolenortheundesirablereactionbetweentheentericcoatingandtheomeprazoleinthecore.
TheAktiebolagetinventorshaddiscoveredthattheinstabilityofomeprazolewhenencasedinanentericcoatingwascausedbythereaction
betweentheomeprazoleandthecoating.Oncethiswasunderstood,theuseofaprotectivesubcoatingmayhavebeenanobvioussolution,butthe
discoveryofthecauseoftheproblemmadetheinventionnonobviousandthepatentsvaliditywasupheld(8).

uttheaiditcouldntedone!
Conventionalwisdom(i.e.,priorart)maysuggestthatacertainideaisnotfunctionalandtherebydiscouragethoseworkingintheareafrom
adoptingtheidea.Whenaninventorthenattemptstheideaanddemonstratesthatitisindeedfunctionalandproducesabeneficialeffect,the

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inventoroftenarguesthatthepriorartteachesawayfromtheidea,andthattheinventorwhodiscoversitsbenefitsshouldbeawardedapatentfor
thediscovery.Ifthepriorartdisparagesaninventionwhiledisclosingitinfull(disclosingallofitselementsinthesamecombinationorarrangement),
thequestionisoneofnovelty,andateachingawayargumentwillnotsucceedbecausethepriorartdisclosure,despiteitsnegativity,deprivesthe
inventionofnovelty.However,whentwoormorepriorartdocumentsmustbecombinedtoachieveallelementsoftheinvention,andoneofthe
documentsdiscouragesitsreadersfromincorporatingorsubstitutinganelementfromtheother,theinventionisnovelandthequestionisoneof
nonobviousness.Asanonobviousnessargument,theteachingawayargumentmayverywellsucceed.
Crocs,Inc.,succeededwithsuchanargumentwithitsPatentNo.6,993,858(9).Thepatentclaimsventilatedshoessimilartoflipflopsorsandals
thatincludeastrapmadeoffoam.Thefoamprovidesfrictionbetweenthestrapandthebasesectionoftheshoeand,oncetheweareradjuststhe
straptoadesiredangle,thefrictionholdsthestrapatthatangle,...

Authorio:

M.HenrHeine
M.HenryHeines,PhD,JD,(Email:mhheines@comcast.netWebsite:http://henryheines.com)isapatentattorneyandanauthor,speaker,andconsultantonpatent
relatedtopicsforlawyers,aswellasforscientists,engineers,andmanagersintechnologycompanies,andhasservedasanexpertwitnessinpatentlitigation.He
beganhiscareerasaresearchengineerinthechemicalsindustryandworkedincorporatepatentpracticebeforeenteringprivatepractice,including25yearsasa
partnerinthefirmnow... Readmore

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