Supreme Court Loosens Patent ‘Obviousness’ Test
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday backed away from a decades-old legal test that high-tech firms argue has sparked an abundance of obvious patents.
In a hotly anticipated decision that could make it easier to challenge patents of questionable quality, the justices called for loosening the current approach set by the nation’s dedicated patent appeals court for deciding when a combination of existing elements deserves patent protection.
“Granting patent protection to advances that would occur in the ordinary course without real innovation retards progress and may, in the case of patents combining previously known elements, deprive prior inventions of their value or utility,” the court wrote in a majority opinion penned by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Technology companies were quick to praise the decision. Several Silicon Valley heavyweights, including Intel and Cisco Systems, had submitted supporting briefs urging the Supreme Court to revise the lower court ruling.
Others were wary of the decision’s broader economic implications on patent holders and voiced concern that the decision will throw the patent system into a state of confusion.
Photo by supremecourtus.gov.
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