The nonobviousness criterion for patentability is the biggest hurdle currently faced by Applicants during prosecution of patent applications before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This IP Corner expands upon the obviousness analysis. The case law as it developed after the Graham case (discussed in May/June 2009 HTP), required a rigorous application of a requirement for a showing of a teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led an ordinary skilled artisan to modify a prior art reference or to combine reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. In other
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